Clasp
by MacFie
Summary: Sequel to Parts of a Whole. Five years later the Fire Lord's inner circle navigates the often bruising, often beautiful path of life. Epic drabble series. ZukoKatara, TophHaru, AangTy Lee and more!  Avatar's property of Nickelodeon  not me!
1. Sunrise

**A/N**: Hello! Thanks for coming. This is a drabble series that follows up my first story called "Parts of a Whole." If you haven't read that you will probably be confused. There are several OCs who will get plenty of attention in this series, and you won't understand who they are if you don't read the other story first. Don't be alarmed though, it's because my "Parts" readers and I loved the OCs that this series exists at all so give it a try.

I'm calling this an "epic drabble series" because I know I will be drawn to arcs and I plan to follow that path. So it will be a fic in bits.

And to my "Parts" readers who have rejoined me for this, I hope you will enjoy it as much as you did the epic. Just thinking about it has gotten me all excited again and I can't wait to really get into it, so let's begin!!

Don't forget to review because I love it so much when you do! MacFie xoxo

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_I don't own anything having anything to do with Avatar: The Last Airbender, with the exception of my OCs and some plot. _

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**Sunrise**

Fire Lord Zuko awakens every morning at sunrise. For the past three weeks he has made it his habit to slip his hand lightly over his sleeping wife's swollen belly and feel the thumps and kicks of the child growing within her. He lies there in complete contentment, careful not to wake Katara, as he communes with his unborn child.

It certainly took long enough, he often thinks to himself. They've been married for five years and this is their first conception. Sokka once took him aside and asked him if he was doing it right. He smirks now thinking of his brother-in-law's smug suggestion that the Fire Lord might need some pointers.

When Ahni had gifted her husband with twins he strutted around proudly as if his seed were somehow more potent for having produced two instead of the typical one. When their second conception also produced twins the Water Tribe captain stumbled around in a stupor wondering how in the world he'd been chosen to have so many children so quickly.

When the healer conceived again … they will soon see how the spirits have chosen to bless them this time.

"Is that smug expression an indicator that you've decided on the bending persuasion of your progeny?" His wife's sleepy voice breaks into his thoughts.

"That's a lot of big words for a peasant." He teases.

"Yes. All the ones I know. What have you decided about our baby's bending?" She's smiling but her eyes are nearly closed, hanging on to sleep.

"He does rise with the sun." Zuko replies.

"Yes, she does." Katara agrees snuggling closer, unwilling to be awake but not being able to help it just now.

"Would it bother you if we had a firebender first?" He asks.

"We've discussed this before, and of course it would a little bit. I want a baby more than anything but a part of me wants to pass on my bending too. It's natural."

"Maybe this one will open the gate and we'll soon have as many as Sokka and Ahni." He kisses her forehead affectionately.

"There would have to be a waterbender in there somewhere, you'd think." She smiles. "But to tell you the truth, right now I'm really hoping this baby is a boy firebender." She admits, sighing.

"That might shut the Cho Sung clan up for a little while but they'd find something else to complain about." Zuko grins. "Besides I'm still hoping Yukio will agree to be my heir, so that should take some of the pressure off."

"Well, part of it is also knowing this might be our only one. I'd almost given up." She finally voices the fear she's kept inside for months.

"Well, you can't give up as long as you're still willing to…"

Katara smacks his shoulder to shut him up. She still blushes whenever intimacies are mentioned even when it's just the two of them. Her opinion is that talking about it makes it less magical. It makes you think about it later during the act itself and thinking is not what she wants to be doing at such times. Besides, these things were never discussed in the Water Tribe, although she realizes they may have been, but just not with _her_.

And so avoiding conversations on the subject of sex has also kept the embarrassment level high for the princess whenever it's brought up.

"It just took so long to actually work." She murmurs, closing her eyes and thinking maybe she'll go back to sleep while there's still time.

"Not for lack of trying." He kisses her neck and moves his way up to the sensitive spot behind her ear and she realizes she's not going back to sleep after all.

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Prince Yukio looks out over the ocean as the sun rises setting the sea aflame. He's soaked with sweat from practice and he still gulps the sea air from the mast-climbing race he and the twins devised and added to their regimen.

He and his friends have been on the Yue for three months. As part of their overall training they were invited to join the crew for a voyage to the South Pole, to several destinations in the Earth Kingdom, and finally back to the Fire Nation capitol.

It's been hard, rewarding work and they've all had a great time working for Sokka. They often feel as if they're the only ones on the crew who get any of the Water Tribe captain's jokes and he definitely appreciates them for that.

The return trip has been enjoyable especially for the addition of the captain's family on board. A pregnant wife and four very young children can enliven any expedition, but the three-year-olds… three-_and-a-half_-year olds … have been a hair-raising pair that has kept the trip exciting even into the night.

In fact, Yukio's first trip up the mast was to retrieve one of the demonic duo when the child decided to capture a pelican that had taken a rest up there. The prince had nearly flown up the mast and grabbed the toddler around the waist before he realized what he was doing. Once he had little Niko under his arm, he couldn't figure out how to get down with him.

Sokka had to climb up with a rope, tie the boy to his own chest and they climbed down together.

Since then, Yukio and his friends have used the mast as a training tool, but also as sports equipment. Right now Taoki holds the most wins, but Yukio is not far behind. Kenya tends to stop for seconds at a time to stare out at the horizon thinking he's seeing something. He just can't seem to stop himself, even though he has never quit trying to win.

The prince heads for his cabin thinking how great it will be to get home and see everyone again. He has so many new skills to tell Zuko and Katara about. And it won't take Bokkusu five minutes to start thinking of security uses for them.

But with the return comes the final answer. He must tell his cousin that he will never willingly accept the throne. If the Fire Lord and Katara never produce a proper heir his decision will be made for him and he'll accept it, but he won't change his mind and agree to the lordship for himself otherwise.

All he wants is to be a warrior for the Fire Nation. It feels as if it's all he's ever wanted.


	2. Homecoming

**A/N**: I've received a request that I post the ages of the characters at this point. "Clasp" takes place five years after "Parts of a Whole" which was five years after the victory over Ozai.

"Clasp" ages:

Aang is 22

Ty Lee is 25

Zuko is 26

Katara is 24

Sokka is 25

Ahni is 23

Toph is 22

Vallon/Haru is 25

Yukio is 16

Taoki and Kenya are 18

Bokkusu is 27

Chin is 29

Hope that helps!

Thanks to all the reviewers who dropped me a line. As I've said before, it makes this whole endeavor worth doing and I love it! MacFie xoxo

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**Homecoming**

The grand foyer of the Bai Fong mansion has always been impressive. As he stands for the first time in his future in-laws' home, Vallon feels like a child craning his neck at the intricate painting and woodwork that decorates every surface of the vast area.

"If you need to faint, feel free." Toph says dryly, sensing his overwhelmed discomfort.

"It's a lot for a country boy to take in." He breathes.

"More than the Fire Lord's palace?"

"He's a king, not my fiance's parents."

"Good point. I should mention it to mom and dad if they ever make themselves free for us." She responds, disgruntled. "Seriously, what's taking so long? We're expected!"

"Calm down. They're just testing you." Vallon says soothingly.

"I'll test_ them_." She mutters stupidly.

Her betrothed has the gall to laugh out loud at her empty threats. It's a deep, rich sound that reverberates through the room and causes her to laugh as well. They've both been so nervous about this meeting they've been on edge all day and it feels good to let loose.

They have not seen Earth Kingdom soil since the attack on Zuko five years ago at the former Unified Council building. Indeed they had both believed they would never come back to their homeland and have since put down roots in the Fire Nation, working together as part of Bokkusu's security team.

The Earth King's abdication and subsequent "voluntary" seclusion in the mountains coincided with their betrothal and after a lengthy discussion of the pros and cons; they decided to visit Toph's parents. So here they stand in the entry to the home of the celebrated Bai Fong family of Gaoling awaiting admittance like uninvited strangers.

They have argued and huffed and railed about Vallon's insistence that they skip a visit to his own parents. Not a single one of his letters has been answered over the past five years and, although he knows Toph would argue otherwise, he is painfully aware now that his parents hate the Fire Nation more than they love him.

"Toph!" A feminine cry sounds down the hallway and the blind earthbender's mother rushes to her daughter and throws her arms around her.

"Hi Mom." Toph quirks a smile in Vallon's direction as she lightly pats her mother on the back. She can't quite bring herself to return the hug, but she understands the need for contact. "Where's Dad?"

"He's in the great hall with our guests." Mrs. Bai Fong says glancing at Vallon with interest. She had known he would be large, but had not expected the tall, muscular man standing before her. She wonders briefly if Toph realizes what a giant she's marrying, never concluding that the question of her daughter's knowledge of her fiancé's height and shoulder width is absurd at best.

"Guests? You have guests? Today of all days?" Toph grits out. Her mom is such an airhead sometimes the earthbender doesn't know if she can keep from screaming.

"Of course. You warned me you weren't staying long, so I couldn't just tell them to leave." Mrs. Bai Fong puts her hand on Toph's elbow and the younger woman pulls it away, taking Vallon's arm instead.

"Mom, I'd like you to meet Vallon." She says pointedly, hoping her mother will recognize her own rudeness at not having even acknowledged him.

"It's my pleasure dear." The older woman says absent-mindedly. "You are welcome in our home." She adds as she leads them down the corridor to the great hall.

"Thank you." Vallon says uncomfortably to the woman's back and he squeezes Toph's hand.

The corridor opens up to a room that makes the foyer look like a storage shed. Gold is etched into the dark red walls in intricate patterns only to disappear behind fine silk tapestries the size of a Water Tribe schooner's mast. There is a dais at one end where Toph's father sits like a king waiting for his princess to come to him and the two guests sit to the side on low stools as if they are attendants to the monarch. Vallon smirks as they walk toward the trio but when he suddenly recognizes them he freezes in place.

"What?" Toph whispers to him.

"My parents." He says huskily, stunned at the sight of the family he hasn't seen in nearly ten years.

"Haru." His mother says simply, standing slowly and taking a tentative step in her son's direction.

His father says nothing, but he stands as well and stares at Vallon as if seeing an apparition.

"Mom. Dad." The big earthbender doesn't know what to do so he just idiotically stands like a statue, his mind swirling in a million thoughts like gnats at dusk.

His mother picks up speed and soon throws her arms around her son's waist. Her head barely reaches his shoulder now. He quickly feels the wetness from her tears soaking through his tunic.

"You've grown." Tyro has made his way over and states the obvious, a thickness in his throat he can't quite swallow back.

Vallon doesn't hug his mother and he simply stares at his father.

"I'd like you to meet Toph." He reaches out and brings her to his side as much for support as for politeness.

"Hi." She says, once again feeling like a child in this house at this time with all these parents hanging around.

"It's an honor to meet you Miss Bai Fong." Tyro bows briefly to her.

"Oh, just call me Toph." The blind woman smiles nervously.

"Toph, we're so happy you two decided to come to the Earth Kingdom." Vallon's mother, Eina, says brokenly through her tears.

The big earthbender tenses even more at his mother's words. Is that all it took? Actually come in person instead of sending a letter?

"It's a miracle." His father shakes his head slowly, still staring at him.

Toph reaches over and takes her fiancé's hand, unclenching his fist for him as she does so.

"Why did you come here?" Vallon asks his parents sharply. "Why didn't you answer any of my letters?"

Vallon's mother breaks down anew and a tear betrays his father by sliding down the old man's cheek.

"Until the Bai Fongs contacted us." Tyro chokes, "we thought you were dead."

"Before the end of the war." His mother sobs. "They sent us your uniform and awarded you a medal of valor."

"We thought the letters were a sick joke by some Fire Nation citizen who was bitter at losing the war." Tyro explains, begging his son's forgiveness with his eyes.

Toph unclenches Vallon's fist again.

"That's kind of a long-shot conclusion to come to don't you think?" He's been beyond caring for so long the renewed feelings of familial devotion are like a dagger through his heart and he refuses to believe their excuse, consigning it to the category of the ridiculous.

"We searched for you after we received the first letter. We contacted the army to see if there had been a mistake, but there was no Haru on file at all. And … Vallon … as you were calling yourself at that time had just disappeared at the same time as the date on the death notice. The army had an official certificate of your death along with the report of your bravery signed by three officers." Tyro says, bewildered by what he knew without a doubt was true and the alternate reality he sees standing before him.

There is silence for a moment as they all go over this new information, some things falling into place and others expunged from memory as unimportant.

"I think I have some idea of how this might have happened." Toph says quietly while she gently unclenches Vallon's fist again.

"I do too." He says tightly.

"Why? Who would go to all that trouble to convince us you were dead?" His mother looks up at him, stricken.

He finally puts his free arm around the woman who has been mourning him for almost a decade, keeping a hold on Toph's hand as an anchor to truth. And even as he shows this small bit of tenderness, his expression is hard and his eyes glitter with an old hate.

"The Director." He snarls and Toph soberly nods her agreement.


	3. Healing

**A/N:** Don't be afraid but this chapter is almost completely about an OC. If you've read Parts of a Whole you'll know what's going on. If not then maybe you'll enjoy it anyway.

Thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter. You're the best!

MacFie xoxo

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**Healing**

The old man sits with ten or fifteen younger men surrounding him hanging on his every word. The teacher with his pupils, commanding their under-educated minds with his exquisitely turned phrases and glib observations.

"Why has he been granted so much social time?" Bokkusu asks the warden as they watch the yard from the walls of the Banshu prison in the Omashu province of the Earth Kingdom.

"Xin is a model prisoner. Many of these young men couldn't even read and he offered to teach them. They look up to him and it seems to have helped their self-esteem to finally have a father figure." The warden replies.

"He is in this prison for leading a conspiracy to assassinate Fire Lord Zuko. It hasn't crossed your mind that he could have ulterior motives for his charitable behavior?" The box man asks irritably. He hates the Earth Kingdom and would not even be in this cursed place if he hadn't gotten a message from Prince Yukio that he should come check on the despicable former ambassador from the former Unified Council.

"When he first started teaching we had guards on him at all times. They reported nothing suspicious and so we've given him a little bit of leeway. An hour or two a day visiting with the young people is an excellent tonic for all involved." The warden smiles.

"So you don't even have anyone listening to what he's teaching them?" Bokkusu is awestruck at the laxity of the Earth Kingdom prison system. Surely somebody must have imagined Xin would try to manipulate his situation. It would seem that nobody did or if so that person was not in a position to do anything about it … much like the box man himself.

"No we don't." The warden replies curtly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll have to conclude this tour. Thank you for stopping by Mr. Bonksu. Please give the Fire Lord my regards."

Bokkusu doesn't even correct the mispronunciation of his name. The security man glares back down from the wall at the old ambassador still holding court in the yard and his flesh crawls. He's exhausted. He's covered in Earth Kingdom dust and he has a headache. And now he has a strangely familiar gut feeling that someone evil is up to no good.

And he still has another errand to run before he has to sit down to compose a formal letter of protest regarding the privileged incarceration of Xin.

He sighs as he leaves through the prison gates. He had planned on coming here right after the attack five years ago to wreak vengeance. Very quickly the ambassador was arrested however, and then the Earth King was put under close observation until he was retired and then replaced to great fanfare.

By the time it had all shaken out, there was no way he could seek revenge without dishonoring himself and the Fire Lord. So he has been pushing himself to the limit with investigations and work.

One of his greatest achievements was the liberation of the Hong-Shu mining camp. Seven years after the end of the war the owners of the Hong-Shu mine were still using Earth Kingdom prisoners as slave labor. They had been able to keep it astonishingly secret but one tiny thread presented itself and as Bokkusu followed it he unraveled an atrocity that makes him sick even now.

The liberated prisoners were escorted home by Prince Yukio and the Fire Lord's personal fleet, the palace's own archivists and the box man's agents having found each and every one of the forty or so men's families. Bokkusu had wanted to come himself in order to keep the prince safe, but he was prevented by the Fire Lord's order from leaving the princess's side. There had been no actual threat to Katara, but the security man soon realized they were worried about his residual frustration at the Earth Kingdom's collusion with Xin and they didn't want him emotionally traumatized.

He still laughs at their concern. If he has been able to handle the emotional trauma of spending his adolescence at war with all countries including his own a simple trip back to the place of his greatest failure is nothing more than a mosquito bite.

Even he doesn't believe that.

Tense as a coiled snake he reaches his destination and knocks.

The woman who slides the door open is pretty. In fact she defines the word. Long brown hair and big deep green eyes, she's a picture worth staring at. Except that she's real and she's asking if she can help him.

"Uh, I have a gift from Fire Lord Zuko and Princess Katara. They send their regards." Bokkusu stammers as he hands her a wrapped box.

"How nice, won't you come in?" She slides the door open wide enough to admit the box man and he enters the main living space of a serene home. "I was just about to have some tea, would you like some?"

Before he can say a word she is showing him to a low stool in front of a table and moving to the tea service she has already prepared.

"Have a seat." She tells him and he does. "My name is Song."

Memory suddenly floods Bokkusu of a story Prince Zuko once told the Crimson Dragons of how he had accepted the kindness of a family and then dishonorably stolen their only ostrich-horse. He remembers the young woman in the story's name was Song.

"Do you have a name?" She's speaking to him again and he focuses.

"Yes, I'm Bokkusu." He bows from his seat.

Now that he knows the nature of the visit, reparation on the Fire Lord's behalf, he feels more comfortable. For so long he's been a man who survived day to day on missions. It's easier than taking life as it comes.

He looks around the room and notes the calming colors, the jasmine plant twining up a stake under the window, easily kicked aside should someone need to make a quick exit. He looks at the grass mats and the bamboo stools, useful for camouflage and missiles. Everything in the room is placed for maximum comfort and flow, not a lot of places to hide although the long, low table can be flipped on its side to make a shield.

The scent of the jasmine is lovely and soothing. Bokkusu doesn't want to relax though; he doesn't remember how. He doesn't want to take tea with a pretty young Earth Kingdom woman. He wants to get back on a giant metal Fire Nation ship and go home where he belongs.

He sips his tea quietly while Song opens her package.

"Ah! Perfect!" She exclaims, pulling out four jars that Bokkusu can only assume contain healing herbs or oils. "Prince Yukio brought some supplies to me when he stopped here recently, but they go so quickly. Ground fire orchids make the best cold remedy we've ever found. And the oil of juniper flax has such a wonderful aroma. We use it in all our massage oils."

He doesn't care. He can't wait to get out of here.

"Well I suppose I'll get my chance to smell it then. I've been ordered to have a massage and spend time in the hot springs." These orders came from Katara and Bokkusu didn't argue. She was sitting right next to Zuko when she gave the command and the Fire Lord didn't flinch. Bokkusu probably wouldn't have fought her on this anyway. She seems to be able to get the security man to do just about anything.

Even come to a sissy healing hut for "therapy."

"The princess ordered Commander Chin to do the same when he delivered supplies to us." Song laughs.

"Just doing her part for the economy." Bokkusu says.

"Or maybe she thinks it will do some good." She smiles sweetly at him as she joins him at the table.

"I'm sure it will." He pulls back his cynicism for the sake of politeness.

"What brings you to the Omashu province?" She takes a sip of her tea and waits for him to answer.

"I work directly for the Fire Lord. He wanted me to check on a convict of interest at the prison." Bokkusu wonders if that sounds as vague as it needs to be, or if he's just given too much information.

"Someone being treated badly?" She asks her huge eyes full of concern.

The box man barks out a laugh that startles Song. She's surprised the teapot didn't crack at the concussive nature of it.

"No. Unfortunately, he's one of the ones who isn't being treated badly enough." He says chuckling. May as well find some humor in the matter before becoming deadly serious.

"The ambassador?" Song asks quietly and Bokkusu eyes her suspiciously. "We heard about his attempt on the Fire Lord's life. Many Fire Nation sailors come to us for healing and they sometimes gossip a little."

The security man nods.

"We heard he also tried to kill the Earth King and take over the Kingdom." She shudders.

"Well, he actually planned on taking over the Fire Nation. As far as the Earth King goes…" He stops himself. As much as he'd like to shout it from the rooftops, he is not allowed to mention Keui's perfidy to anyone.

"Yours is a stressful line of work." She states the obvious.

"Sometimes it is."

She can see the tension in his body. The stiffness of movement. The eyes shifting around the room.

"So have you found them?" She asks him mischievously.

"What?"

"The exits and the cover in case we're attacked." She grins knowingly. After all the soldiers she's treated she knows one thing for sure. They always find the way out and the place to hide when they enter a room.

"How did you know…" Bokkusu looks at her stymied for a moment and then gifts her with a big, genuine smile as he realizes she knows a lot of things most pretty young women wouldn't.

"When you're finished with your tea you can go through that door and an attendant will take you where you need to go. We'll throw in a mud bath at no extra charge." She says, leaving him alone in the room with his thoughts.

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After being pummeled mercilessly by two large Earth Kingdom masseurs, the box man sits in the natural springs that supposedly have healing powers. He does feel more relaxed than he has in years. But with relaxation comes memory and with memory comes tension and so he finds himself in a vicious cycle he knows all too well.

The door to the bamboo structure opens and Song steps in bearing towels and a supply of candles.

"I'm sorry!" She says when she realizes the hut is occupied. "I thought you would still be in the mud bath. I brought towels for you. And candles can provide a nice atmosphere for relaxation." She says, flustered.

"I appreciate your offer, but I don't care for mud baths." Bokkusu says hating the fact that he's blushing at her intrusion.

"Of course. Some people find them too messy." She nods understandingly.

"Yes." He agrees not willing to tell her his reason for disliking the treatment has more to do with the fact that he was once buried up to his neck by earthbenders during the war and the thought of having the same experience by choice is laughable.

"Well, I'll leave you to it." She says heading for the door. "You'll stay for dinner?" She suddenly turns and asks.

"I've heard the roast duck is good." Bokkusu smiles back at her.

Song grins recognizing that her mother's cooking is becoming internationally appreciated. The older woman will be so pleased.

And then she blushes.

"I thought we could go out." She says looking at the floor.

Bokkusu almost looks around to see if she's actually talking to him. Most women are terrified of him. Because he's sitting, fully unclothed in the hot spring, she can see at least the tops of his scars. The masseurs hadn't said a word when they'd seen him, but that was their job. Their eyes did open a little wider though. And she hasn't stared at all. Hasn't avoided looking at the marks, just didn't react to them.

If he were wearing clothes right now he'd feel utterly naked. She's not afraid of him. She's not bothered by the scars that run all the way up each shoulder in straight diagonal lines and disappear back down under the water to form the "X" he's been labeled with for eight years.

"I don't think so." He says quietly. "But thank you for offering."

"Oh." Her face gets impossibly redder. "I'm sorry to have interrupted you. Take as much time as you like." She hurries to the door.

"I mean, yes. I'd like that… dinner … out." He suddenly hears himself saying and bites back a groan at how insane he must appear.

She stops and looks at him, a bemused expression on her face.

"Are you sure?" She asks.

"Yes." He responds somewhat sheepishly.

"You're not going to change your mind again?" The corners of her mouth quirk up a little.

"No."

"Okay. Take all the time you like. We'll go to the village when you're ready."

"That sounds nice."

Now her expression is amused as she closes the door behind her.

The box man sinks down into the water until only his thick, black hair floats on the top. He considers drowning himself literally since he's already halfway there with embarrassment before he realizes he's actually looking forward to something non-confrontational for the first time in five years.


	4. Wishes

**Wishes**

Kenya finds his brother where he was told to look by palace guards who had seen the twin head in the direction of the rocky shore.

Taoki sits with his chin propped in his crossed arms at a rocky ledge gazing down at the shoreline. The clear, pure sound of a flute trills up on the breeze making this spot, with this particular ocean view nearly breathtaking.

"Someone said I would find you out here." Kenya says walking toward Taoki.

"I would have told you myself where I would be, but I couldn't find you."

Kenya grins sheepishly. "I was indisposed."

Taoki nods with a smile. Kenya being "indisposed" is a constant the only thing changing in the scenario being the girl. At least his brother's kind, Taoki always reminds himself when he worries. Kenya hasn't ruined anyone yet and they don't seem to hate him when he moves on.

The twins have become as popular at the palace as Yukio. Naturally the sixteen-year-old prince is the target of many a nobleman's daughter, but just as many of the girls who frequent the palace activities skip the younger boy in favor of the enigmatic eighteen-year-old "White Spirits." Kenya takes great enjoyment in the adoration while Taoki is a bit more discerning, preferring to concentrate on one admirer rather than the clumps of nervous girls who tend to gather when the young men make an appearance.

"Are you okay?" Kenya asks his brother as he sits down beside him on the ledge.

"Yeah, why?" Taoki's brow furrows. He'd thought he was good at hiding his feelings. Of course he has never been able to hide anything from Kenya.

"I don't know. You've been moping."

"Just a phase."

Kenya laughs out loud. Only Taoki would refer to his problems as a "phase" and actually mean it.

"Shhh." Taoki says to his brother.

"What? Who's going to hear me laughing and why would they care?" He asks looking around them bemusedly before he looks over the ledge and widens his eyes.

Suddenly it all makes sense. Down below them, perched delicately on a boulder, sits a lovely girl playing a flute. Kenya realizes he's been listening to the beautiful music without realizing it, so perfectly formed it is to the place.

"Who is she?" He asks Taoki.

"I don't know." 

"Is this the first time you've ever seen her?" Kenya asks.

"No." Taoki admits. "She comes here every day about this time and plays."

"She's pretty."

"Yeah."

"Her clothes are fine; expensive, but I've never seen her at any palace functions." Kenya inspects the young vision.

"Neither have I."

"Why don't you go talk to her?"

Taoki stares at his brother, horrified. This is exactly why he never minded Kenya being "indisposed" in the evenings. He could always come here and watch the girl without being interrupted and having someone appallingly suggest that he go and actually talk to her.

"Don't be shy." Kenya predictably says. "You're one of the White Spirits. She has to have heard of you."

"Has it ever occurred to you that just because people like us now we're still freaks? Just a different kind of freak." He shakes his head.

"Yeah it has. But I definitely prefer people looking at me with admiration than loathing. Don't you? If I have to be some trumped up legendary figure to stay where I am, it's a heck of a lot better than where we came from." Kenya says with the certainty he's always enjoyed.

"I'm not ungrateful." Taoki says. "It's just… we did come from there. It's still a part of who we are."

"So? I think that's a good thing. I'll never forget so I'll never take anything for granted. Hopefully that will make me a better person." Kenya shrugs.

"Being on the Yue with Sokka and Ahni and their kids was fun." Taoki says suddenly.

"Yeah?" Kenya wonders what his brother might be getting at.

"But seeing them every day like that. With their kids. Twins even. Two little boys." Taoki looks out to the sea. "Why couldn't we have had that?"

Kenya has to admit to himself that he had been struck by similar feelings during their stint on the Water Tribe ship. Watching two identical boys run up to their parents in perfect joy and to see them received with reciprocal delight was at times difficult.

"We should have Taoki." Kenya says gently. "But we didn't. Don't think I don't wish I had the same things even now. To lay my head in my mother's lap when I'm tired or sick. Or even a grandmother's, like Yukio has. Your knees are too boney for me to lay my head on." He jokes at the end, feeling too close to maudlin to let the discussion continue as it has.

Taoki grins thankfully. He doesn't like to dwell on his residual bad feelings from their childhood any more than his brother does.

"You know," Kenya continues, "She has a lap." He nods down at the girl meaningfully and Taoki's eyes follow his.

She's very pretty. Just eighteen years old a month ago. Her clothes are indeed very fine. She is a wealthy nobleman's daughter and she comes to this private place carved between the cliffs every evening to play her flute in solitude. Unaware of the two pairs of eyes upon her from above she continues to bare her soul through her instrument.

She was born into the powerful house of Cho Sung during a typhoon. For some reason her father likes to remind her of the weather conditions as if somehow they were to blame for how she turned out.

By the time she was four years old Lin Cho Sung should have been talking. She should have been able to follow simple commands. Instead all she did was babble in a strange language all her own.

No one could figure out why she had so much trouble. At one point they considered institutionalizing her, but they met an herbalist who described what she thought was the problem. Lin could hear, she just couldn't understand. She could speak, but she was speaking what she heard.

Lin has worked with tutors and herbalists and healers every day since then. She can now understand approximately a third of what is said to her. She picks up certain words all the time. The rest of the words she figures out by reading lips and following hand signals. But conversation is slow. She has to stop and think before she can formulate a sentence, particularly to answer a question that comes to her ears in a garbled form in the first place. As a result her father has gently but effectively directed her away from social situations.

Music is the one aural activity that has not been a mountain to climb. She naturally took to the flute the first time she picked it up and read music within two lessons as if she always had. These days she experiments with her music, shunning written pieces for improvised expressions of her current emotions. The rocky beach, the waves, the horizon in the distance and the cliffs at her back serve as her orchestra and audience. She has never noticed the pale golden eyes watching her. She may have felt them once or twice, but sensed no danger and so they caused no inhibition.

"Go talk to her." Kenya urges his brother.

"Someday maybe." Taoki says. "Why were you looking for me?"

"The Fire Lord called an emergency security meeting at six o'clock." Kenya stands. "You've got time to say 'hello' to her at least."

"That's an hour from now. I'd better go change." Taoki gets to his feet, ignoring his brother's suggestion, and brushes the dust off his tunic. "Bokkusu can't be back." He says as they leave the ridge.

"No, but a package came today and for some reason the Fire Lord thought we'd better all meet. I'm not sure what we can do with Bokkusu, Toph and Vallon all out of the country right now, but I guess we'll find out." Kenya picks up a rock and throws it out toward the sea. Before it can drop, Taoki shoots a fire dart at it and it explodes over the beach. Too late he remembers the girl and her flute and mentally kicks himself for alerting her to the fact that she's not been alone. He doesn't think Kenya realizes this so he simply picks up his pace and heads further away from the ridge toward the palace.

Startled, Lin stares at the sparks as they settle on the beach. She packs her flute away in her bag and hurries away in the other direction. She's not sure what that explosion was, but she's now frightened enough to find a new private spot.

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Zuko sits by himself in his office. He looks at the package that was delivered earlier today.

The bundle contains different parts of an unfinished manuscript. The sender is unknown but the author of the work is only too familiar.

Xin is writing his memoirs. Someone in the Earth Kingdom will publish them and the resulting book will be sold around the world.

Most of the meandering work focuses on his unprivileged childhood where he actually had to go to the public school and tutor other children to make extra money. But of course he pulled himself out of the muck of country life right to the pinnacle of success and world domination. He actually refers to his stint as ambassador as such and contrasts it with monarchy where a person is elevated by virtue of birth and not, supposedly, by hard work.

He goes through a vague, allegorical recounting of the assassination attempt and comes to several conclusions in case anyone wanted to try such a thing in the future.

The most important conclusion he comes to, the one that anchors the chapter is the lesson that defeat comes only if one's opponent is able to recover. He seems to have discovered that the warrior is simply an expendable, but the most important component in a unit's successful defense is the healer, and therefore the very person who can give, preserve and recapture life for others is the very one who must be the first to die.

That passage had been circled with dark black ink several times.

Is it a threat? Is it simple torment? With his most elite security team fractured and the most experienced currently in the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Lord's feelings of vulnerability have increased tenfold.

With Xin locked away for life, he should no longer be a threat. But his power has obviously not been squelched. He seeks to inspire others to continue his destructive efforts for him.

The only way to stop a man like Xin is to kill him, Zuko knows. But his life is different now. Never one to feel completely comfortable with assassination, he realizes that some of his past activities have amounted to as much. Can he bring himself to order such a thing? Bring shame on his house? Risk the self-respect he has fought so long and so hard to earn?

He wonders bitterly why anyone would want to be a king.

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**A/N**: Yep, leave it to me to create yet another OC. I hope you like her. I do. I realize her name would probably be presented the other way around, but the show puts Toph's surname last, so I'm just following their lead.

Thanks for the reviews friends!

MacFie xoxo


	5. Circle

**Circle**

"The mission will be completed within seventy-two hours." Minister Kuo informs the Fire Lord as the meeting commences. The participants request no specifics. None are needed.

Zuko nods and moves his attention to the others at the table.

"Our immediate concern is the possibility that Xin's disciples may already have infiltrated the Fire Nation as visitors or immigrants. We should have a list of all the prisoners released from the Banshu prison since Xin was incarcerated within the next twenty-four hours. I want a team sent to every village that has hosted one of these convicts." He tells them.

The meeting consists of all the subordinate security team leaders who answer to Minister Kuo as well as the Fire Lord's personal security team. Sokka is also on hand as a concerned ally and fringe member of the royal family. The minister continues his report of the recent developments with Xin and the former ambassador's efforts to expand his influence through the disaffected youth who cross his path in prison.

"Is Bokkusu coming back soon?" Yukio asks when the floor is opened for questions.

"No your highness, you'll be working with me." Minister Kuo responds and the prince's eyes go wide. He's only ever worked with Bokkusu. In fact he often still feels like a trainee.

"You're okay with that, right?" Zuko asks his cousin, his eyebrows raised.

"Of course!" Yukio sits up straight and looks at the giant Minister of Security. "It will be my honor Minister Kuo."

"Taoki, Kenya," Zuko turns to the twins, "You're comfortable with this?"

"Yes, my lord!" Taoki grins and Kenya follows suit.

"Don't get too excited." Sokka smirks. "Bokkusu might get his feelings hurt."

Minister Kuo doesn't smile at the idea that his son would have hurt feelings over the temporary defection of part of his team. In fact, the elder box man sees nothing at all amusing about the way the Fire Lord's personal security is handled. Such tight personal relationships are detrimental to the mission of keeping the royal family safe in his opinion. Should Bokkusu need to step in front of an attack on Fire Lord Zuko, Minister Kuo has no doubt that the leader of the Fire Nation would instinctively try to place himself back in the path to save his security man's life.

But nobody asks him. And they don't listen to him when he objects to the current policies. When Bokkusu began training the prince to take part in counter-espionage missions Kuo voiced his concerns and was put off by the Fire Lord himself. Every time he brings up the possibility of transferring his son to a national security position he is put off.

It's not that he doesn't understand the Fire Lord's need to have people around him with whom he is comfortable. In fact, Zuko's level of familiarity with the younger box man has probably been beneficial to the overall maintenance of necessary surveillance.

Minister Kuo weighs this benefit against his own knowledge that the day will come when the Fire Lord will attempt to lay down his own life for that of his bodyguard. It is the nature of the relationship and has been since the insurgency when they fought side by side instead of one behind the other. After all the particulars are thoroughly considered, the Fire Nation Minister of Security would prefer that his son seek a position elsewhere in the network.

But again, nobody listens to him.

"And finally," Kuo brings the meeting to a close after an hour of extended debate about which team will go where and why and another half hour of explaining to the Water Tribe captain why he's not going to be involved in any action regarding this particular threat at this particular time, "The Earth Kingdom is once again seeking to extradite Long Feng."

Zuko sighs. Every once in a while they get a letter from the Earth Kingdom Department of State with the request that the Fire Nation hand over Long Feng to be tried for his decade old crimes against what Yukio disdainfully calls "Dirt Land." These bureaucratic cycles were manipulated and set in motion by the Earth King while he still sat on the throne. They continue to this day because he was smart enough to plug new requests into the files according to the calendar and when the administrators of justice come across these requests, they feel they simply must send them on.

"Will they get him?" Zuko asks.

"No. But it's possible they will eventually." Kuo responds. "Once Bumi is no longer King of Omashu the new Earth King will actually have some power. With a steward overseeing Ba Sing Se right now, we have more control over the situation. Once that changes, everything will change along with it."

"We'll speak about this later." Zuko tells Kuo pointedly, calling an end to the meeting. He stands and leaves the room, returning the bows of the participants quickly. He walks away without saying anything.

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A fine, first edition tome is opened at page one. A light, sable brush swishes across the page thoroughly and goes on to the next and then the next and the next. Every fraction of an inch of every single page is brushed.

Once the book has been closed it is wrapped in two layers of thick silk and a note is attached. _To my master, with all my regard_ the note gushes.

Leather gloved hands pass the wrapped package to another set of covered hands and the book disappears under a black cloak. No words are spoken.

The yard of the prison is teeming with activity, the group surrounding the old ambassador growing and as enraptured as ever.

Nearly empty, the interior of the prison is barely disturbed when the clay floor of a ground level cell opens and a hand pops out. In the hand is the package wrapped in silk. The package is placed on the bed in the tiny room and just as suddenly as it appears the hand disappears beneath the floor leaving not a single bump or blister of earth behind.

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Katara quietly opens the door of her husband's study to find him standing at the window, staring out at the lantern lit courtyard and the blackness beyond.

"Are you coming to bed?" She asks, coming to his side and gently stroking up and down the middle of his back.

"Soon. I have a few more papers to go over." He places his arm across her shoulders and bends down to kiss her forehead.

"Are you bothered by giving the order?" She wasn't in the meeting itself, but he had spent half the afternoon talking to her about the danger and coming around to admitting his decision. He had been surprised at her ready acceptance.

"Yes, but not for the reason you might think." He smiles.

"It was the right decision. It's what Iroh would have done." She says confidently.

"My father would have done it five years ago." He looks back to the courtyard.

"You're not Ozai."

"I'm not Iroh either."

"Of course you aren't." She agrees softly her brow furrowing slightly at his mysterious mood.

He continues looking out the window. Iroh was the perfect Fire Lord for his time. Ozai had his own unique set of circumstances and Zuko often wonders if the elder brother would have handled things so differently from the younger brother if given the same situation. Personal relationships notwithstanding, Ozai's coronation was like jumping onto a moving komodo-rhino racing chariot. That he tried to end the war through ultimate victory can be criticized for his specific actions, but was his intent really so horrible? And without the benefit of hindsight, would not Iroh have done some of the same things? Most likely, but who can tell? They were all raised to believe the Fire Nation had the right to rule the world. That his father followed those precepts was the least of his faults.

Of the three Fire Lords, Ozai was undoubtedly the most ruthless. It has become obvious to the current monarch over the past five years that a little bit of ruthlessness is necessary in his position, particularly where foreign threats are concerned. After all, why would anyone compromise with a power they know for a fact will stop well before retaliation? The Fire Nation has taken a lot of hits in the ten years since the end of the war. Would some of those blows have been delivered if the aggressors had not been assured that they would never truly have to answer for their disrespect? It's a question worth pondering, he's decided.

"Come to bed. The papers will wait until morning." Katara ducks under his arm and takes his hand to gently tug him toward the door.

"No." He pulls his hand away. "I'll come in a few minutes. I want these off my desk." He goes to his chair and sits, shuffling the papers on the desk so that the most pressing ones are on top. He doesn't look up at her again.

Stung, and feeling dismissed and unappreciated, she watches him as he begins to read. Silently she leaves the room and closes the door behind her. He continues reading as the door latch clicks into place.

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"Are you going to tell me what you were up to this afternoon?" Toph asks Vallon as they lounge in each other's arms in front of the fireplace in his room at the inn in Omashu.

"Nope." He grins.

"I wonder why they didn't ask me."

"Probably because you're a girl." He smirks and is gifted with a hard right to the ribs.

"Did it have something to do with Xin?" She asks, knowing he might not be able to answer.

"I honestly don't know. It was a delivery to coordinates in the prison though." He answers rubbing his side and sipping his tea.

"Are you supposed to be telling me this?"

"Nope."

"I'm ready to go home." She sighs, leaning in to his shoulder.

Home. To the Fire Nation. It still gives them pause even as they feel no guilt or shame for having allied with their former enemy. Even as they do the work no one else will do or _can_ do to ensure the safety of their new home.

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Song and Bokkusu walk through the village gardens as they have done nearly every day for the past two weeks. The exception was yesterday and by the evening the healer was surprised by how empty she felt. She knows he will soon return home to the Fire Nation. She never meant to become attached. Here she is though, hand through his bent arm, wishing he would say or do something more than this chaste strolling that has become their comfortable habit.

"Song," he suddenly turns to her and she stops breathing for a second, "This is a little embarrassing, but … I think I need you treat something."

This was not at all what she was expecting him to say at that moment and she almost laughs out loud at the indelicate implication of his request.

"What is it?" She asks almost not wanting to know.

He rolls up his shirtsleeve and exposes an angry red rash on his massive forearm.

"How did you get that?" She exclaims recognizing it right away.

"I must have been exposed to something." He says vaguely.

"I'll say." She smiles relieved. Leading him back toward the healing center she takes his arm again, feeling as if that's exactly where her hand belongs.

Once there she commands him to take off his shirt, sit on a chair and wait while she looks up the correct procedure in her herbal treatment manual.

He watches her open the large book and absent-mindedly lick her finger as she turns the page. She licks her finger again and turns through several pages before licking it another time and turning through more. She repeats this until she gets to the page that details the treatment. His eyes hone in on the recurring action that he counts on being universal.

"How did you come in contact with the white jade?" She asks. "The last time I had to treat someone for this it was the late Fire Lord and he was a fugitive at the time traveling incognito."

"I didn't drink it." He looks into her beautiful eyes knowing her reference from Zuko's story. "It was powder."

"Powder?" She furrows her brow as she spreads a strong smelling herbal cream on the rash.

She looks up suddenly and he sees awareness, or maybe just the question, flicker across her face. She stares into his eyes as if perusing his soul for the answer he'll never give her. After a moment she turns back to her work.

A heavy, overwhelming weariness comes over him as he sits there focusing on her delicate hands massaging the ointment into his rough and reddened skin. Even as he tries to push the mission from his mind, the uselessness of worrying about its success an old hard-won belief, he can't stop wondering and hoping that all will fall into place as planned. He can't put it away until it's finished.

"You'll be okay." She says, breaking into his thoughts. "As long as you didn't inhale or ingest any of the powder."

"I didn't. I just got a little on my arm." He says.

"Well it's just a rash then." She shrugs.

Like a heavy blanket, exhaustion and something else he can't define envelop him. Bokkusu slowly lowers his head and rests his forehead in the crook of her neck. She stops rubbing his arm, freezing for a split second in wonder at his strange, intimate gesture.

It takes only a tiny step for her to be standing torso to torso with him, between his legs, his seated position bringing their vastly different heights in line. Her hands rest on his powerful biceps. He makes no move to pull her closer and he doesn't raise his head from where it rests wearily, his warm breath tickling her neck and raising goose bumps.

"It's okay." She whispers placing her graceful hands on his rigid shoulders and massaging in ever widening consecutive circles, feeling an understanding without actual knowledge of what has made him this way.

"I have a stressful job." He murmurs.

"I know." She breathes pressing her cheek into his soft hair. "I know."

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**A/N:** Hmm. That was a bit less drabblish than the others, but what can I do? I guess some installments will be more like chapters than drabbles. I don't think I'm the one in control here.

Thanks to those who took the time to review the last few chapters. It's always so helpful, especially now that I've incorporated the OCs to a greater extent. I love that so many people are drawn to Bokkusu. He's based on a real live US Marine that I know. And yes, my friend is the shape of a very large box and yes, he was trained to look for exits, cover and potential makeshift weapons upon entering an unfamiliar space.

Thanks again!

MacFie xoxo


	6. Crossing Point

**Crossing Point**

Katara pushes her breakfast around on her plate. She makes a long process of extracting a pit from a dried date before leaving it uneaten while Yukio, the twins, Sokka and Ahni laugh and joke as they sit at the long table in the family dining room. Zuko has not joined them this morning, as he hasn't for days.

Sokka eyes his sister thoughtfully in between amusing comments. He doesn't like what he sees. Naturally he's considering over-reacting, however he's trying to cut back on that. It just makes him too tired these days to shriek and pace and rant and rave. Not with four kids and who knows how many more on the way.

Ahni senses her husband's tension and puts her hand on his knee. He glances over to her and she smiles that way that makes him calm. He sighs, remembering that he's no longer the boss of his sister. He also remembers that he was never her boss and that thought makes him smile back at his wife; another woman he cannot rule.

"Katara, I'd love to go walking after breakfast," Ahni says, "now that I'm just a few weeks away from delivering I really can't let up on my exercise." She's not just trying to get her sister-in-law alone to talk, Ahni really does believe in the power of exercise for healthy pregnancy. Nobody else seems to think it's helpful, having their wives on bed rest for much of the gestation period, but lately Sokka has been open minded about these things, deferring to her and pointing out that she's done a pretty good job so far with the brood they've already produced.

"Sure. I'd like that." Katara perks up. Anything to be away from the palace.

This morning started like all the mornings have this week. Katara woke up alone. No hand on her belly, gently monitoring, trying unsuccessfully not to wake her. No sweet words to start the day. Her husband has suddenly become a stranger to her and although family and friends surround her she feels utterly isolated and incredibly lonely with the sudden loss of companionship in her marriage.

As she and Ahni walk out to the now vacant training grounds to enjoy the view from paths along the fenced ledges Katara takes a deep, cleansing breath and smiles for the first time this day.

"You didn't eat much breakfast," Ahni breaks the silence, "The baby needs the food even if you don't feel like swallowing it."

"Did Sokka pull away from you before Niko and Tau were born?" Katara suddenly asks.

"He didn't so much grow distant as he had a nervous breakdown." Ahni laughs remembering her husband rearranging everything in the bedchamber and then putting it back where it had been only to start the process all over again. At first she had thought that his affliction was due to his being stuck in the Fire Nation until the birth, but then she realized that the birth itself was causing him to display more stress than usual. She hadn't thought that was possible.

Ahni has had all her children in the Fire Nation. She has wanted Katara to deliver each of her babies and that's the reason for this most recent visit. After this baby is born, Ahni and Sokka will stay until after Katara delivers so the favor can be returned.

"I wonder if that's what's happening to Zuko." Katara frowns.

"It could be. He has a lot of concerns. More than the average new father. It might be a combination of things."

Just as the words leave the healer's lips, the Fire Lord appears on the field, striding toward them. Katara stops, feeling almost guilty for having been discussing his behavior behind his back. Then she realizes she would have been talking to _him_ about it if he'd made himself available and that annoys her enough to scowl at him as he approaches.

"Good morning Ahni." He says when he reaches them. "May I speak with you a moment?" He says to Katara.

Nodding, his wife throws a look at Ahni and steps away with him. Why is he speaking so formally to her? The question, voiced only in her mind, annoys her again.

"Nobody can hear us now." She stops walking, forcing him to turn to her.

"I wanted to let you know before you heard it someplace else. Xin's dead." He says quietly.

"Oh. When?" She asks, wondering if that particular ongoing concern has been the problem all along.

"Four days ago. We've been waiting for confirmation and now we have it." He nods, satisfied with the results of the successful mission.

"So you knew the mission had been completed?" More annoyance.

"Yes. We just didn't know if it had been successful." He looks closely at her, wondering why her blue eyes are flashing with anger.

"And why didn't you tell me?"

"I _am_ telling you."

"But you could have told me … oh forget it. That's good news, thanks for letting me know." She says flatly, reining in her temper. This is neither the time nor the place with Ahni so close and waiting for her.

"What's wrong with you?" He seems genuinely confused and she seriously considers pulling her water pouch out and knocking him around a bit.

"If you think you can spare five or ten minutes sometime today, maybe we can talk about what's wrong." She grits out.

"Fine. Why don't we have lunch together and we can talk then." He snaps.

"Fine." She turns and walks away, tears stinging her eyes.

"Wait." He says and she turns. "I have something else I have to do at lunch. Later. After supper."

She nods curtly and turns to walk away.

"Try not to hate me so much." He calls out, in effect setting all the blame for their problems on her shoulders. Her fingers curl into tight fists; her nails biting into her palms. When she turns back around he's nearly to the edge of the field and it's too late to murder him.

A growl escapes her before she can will herself to calm down for the baby's sake.

There was a time when he would have confided everything about any mission or problem of state to her. He would have asked for her advice. He would have listened.

Now she's not even invited to sit in on meetings. She's not even sure when an invitation became a requirement. She only knows that at some point she became a spectator and she doesn't like it. Not at all.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Kenya intercepts Taoki as his twin wanders dejectedly back in the direction of the palace.

"Hey, I was just coming to tell you. We've got confirmation." Kenya tells his brother.

"That's great. I'll bet Bokkusu's happy." Taoki mutters unenthusiastically.

"What's the matter?" Kenya asks.

"She wasn't there. She hasn't been there in days." He responds.

"Maybe she's sick or something."

"No. I think she figured out someone was watching her because I darted that rock at the beach that day." He looks at his brother seeing him remember the moment their game, which has become second nature, most likely alerted the girl to their presence.

"I'm sorry Taoki." Kenya says sincerely. "I set you up for the dart. I didn't even think about it."

"Neither did I, obviously." Taoki responds miserably.

"Have you looked further down the beach?" Kenya asks. "Maybe she just found another cleft to sit in."

"I haven't had time with all the meetings Minister Kuo keeps calling."

"What about now? I could help you if you want." Kenya says.

"I guess." Taoki takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly.

"Let's go." Kenya says putting his arm across his brother's shoulders, turning him around and walking him back toward the beach.

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This cleft is not exactly to Lin's liking. These little, natural alcoves in the cliffs are perfect for surrounding herself with her music, but some of them are better than others. For instance, this particular cleft has no flat rock to sit on. There's a boulder here, but it's so misshapen, she doesn't even want to think about how painful it would be to perch on it for any length of time.

So she's sitting directly on the gravelly sand on her cloak. If her father sees her clothing he'll know she's been at the beach by herself and he'll give her a harsh lecture only softened by the fact that she'll only partially understand it.

She begins a mournful tune, but it soon turns more agitated than sorrowful. She's annoyed at herself for being so frightened that she had to move from her favorite spot to play. There was probably nothing to the small explosion that had so startled her nearly a week ago. Except for the fact that there was no reason for an explosion on the beach when nobody else was around…

Lin decides to stay where she is.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Taoki places his hand on his brother's shoulder as he hears the pure notes of the flute drifting on the breeze. He moves quickly toward the sound and looks over the ledge directly down to the space between the rocks where the girl sits playing. He smiles over at Kenya who nods happily back.

"She moved pretty far away." Taoki whispers, not wanting to take any chances of driving her off again.

"Go talk to her Taoki." Kenya says firmly. "Then you'll at least know who she is and she'll know someone appreciates her music. You don't have to flirt or anything, just talk." He advises.

Taoki knows his brother's right. He knows he has to talk to the girl sometime, but he'd hoped it would be far in the future. When he feels confident and grown up.

Kenya sees his brother wavering and he looks back down at the girl.

"Actually, she probably doesn't know this, but she just might need to be rescued in a minute." Kenya says, eyes focusing over the cliff's ledge at a small, darkened area in the wall behind her. To someone else it would appear to be a shadow. But Kenya can see the edges of the burrowed tunnel. Only having seen such a thing once, he believes it to be the nest of a highly poisonous Gila-cobra. Of course it could simply be a small tunnel, hollowed by the sea, but that isn't something that will take his brother down to the girl on the beach. Danger will. Curiosity won't.

"What?" Taoki asks, knowing Kenya often can see things that others can't.

"Remember that Gila-cobra nest we came across three or four years ago?"

"Yeah," He squints, looking past his brother's pointed finger to what looks to him like a shadow on the cliff wall. His eyes suddenly widen as he realizes the shape is exactly like the nest they accidentally disturbed on one of their first trips along this beach.

"If I go down there I might scare her. It might be completely empty. Maybe I should just watch from here and make sure nothing comes out of it." Taoki says worriedly, trying to get a better view by getting down on his knees by the ledge and craning his neck.

"Just go down there, Taoki. You won't see a viper from up here until it's too late. If you want, I'll go talk to her and check out the tunnel. If there's nothing there, she's safe, if there is something there, she's still safe." Kenya makes a move toward the path that would take him down to the beach and just a few steps from the natural alcove where the girl sits.

"No!" Taoki suddenly jumps to his feet. "I'll go." He can't believe he feels jealous of Kenya, but he knows how his brother's self-confidence and charisma win him the admiration of all the young ladies at court. His twin would never pursue a girl Taoki is interested in, but that same girl might pursue _him_. And if that happened there would be nothing Taoki could do about it.

Kenya laughs as his brother hurries down the path. Fighting the urge to watch the exchange, he turns and walks back toward the palace humming happily. He would like nothing better than to see his brother settled with a family and a home and a lifetime of good fortune. A pretty girl is a good start on that dream, he thinks to himself.

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"Excuse me." Taoki says carefully to the girl as he approaches. He doesn't want to scare her. If there indeed is a viper in the hole behind her, a quick, startled movement could bring out the fangs. If there isn't she might seek out yet another place to play and he might never find her again.

Lin looks up quickly. She had been sure she'd be alone here. Her surprise at the intrusion is apparent in her eyes. Unable to help herself she looks him up and down. This pale young man with the colorful clothes and long white hair might just be the most disconcerting person she's ever encountered. Not unpleasing to look upon at all. Rather beautiful in an ethereal way, but definitely different.

For his part Taoki is frozen in place. She's even prettier up close. Her honey gold eyes are fringed with long, dark lashes. Her skin is ivory in color and just as smooth. Her reflectively black hair is pulled simply back in a long braid leaving her slender neck exposed just above the mandarin collar of her tunic.

She gathers up her bag and puts her flute away. She quickly throws her cloak around her shoulders.

"No! Don't! I just… well, my brother … I mean … I think you're sitting in front of a Gila-cobra nest." He stammers.

Oh that didn't make sense at all, she thinks. She'd understood the word "brother", the word "no", the words "think" and "front" and "nest". Her eyes stare as she racks her brain trying to figure out the rest of what he'd said.

"A Gila-cobra." He says, his eyebrows coming together in confusion over her confusion. "I think there's a nest behind you."

He walks straight past her and leans down to a small opening in the base of the cliff. Just as he starts to get a closer look a wide, flat, viper's head snaps out of the hole, fangs bared and tries to take a bite out of Taoki's boot. He kicks it soundly and it disappears back into its tunnel just as suddenly as it had appeared.

Lin's eyes can't get any rounder. But they do.

"Thank you." She breathes. If she had so much as walked past that hole in the cliff the snake might have struck. And she's wearing feminine walking slippers, not soldier's boots made of komodo-rhino hide and steel.

"No problem." He grins sweetly. "My name's Taoki. I heard you playing before. You're very good."

Lin shakes her head. Taoki decides she's deaf and repeats the entire thing again in a yell.

"I'm not deaf." She says quickly and easily, the phrase being one she uses often.

"Oh. Sorry." His cheeks redden as he imagines how stupid he just seemed yelling in her face as if that would have helped even if she _were_ deaf.

"It's okay." She says. And it is. It happens often and she stopped taking offense long ago. She should probably just explain the problem to him, but her father has been forceful in demanding she tell no one.

"What's your name?" He asks.

"Lin."

"My name is Taoki." He repeats and this time she watches his lips closely.

"Taoki?" She asks hoping she got it right.

"May I walk with you?" He asks, noticing she's slung her bag across her shoulder.

"Um…yes." She says not knowing why. Perhaps to challenge herself. He seems nice. He saved her from a potential viper attack. If she can keep her eyes on his lips, she might be able to carry on a reasonably normal conversation.

But how do you keep your eyes on someone's lips when you're walking side by side with him? Again she debates telling him and decides to wait. Maybe she can see enough from the side and he'll never have to know.

"How long have you been playing?" He asks her.

"Since I was five. Thirteen years I suppose." She wonders where all that time went. So many people think she's incredibly young but really, most of her counterparts in the Fire Nation are at least betrothed by now. She's never even had a boyfriend. Or a friend for that matter.

"That's why you're so good. But there's something more, isn't there?" He smiles at her, taking mental note of her attentive look.

Is she staring at him because of his lack of pigment and his flamboyantly colorful clothes of Ty Lee design? Or is she interested in what he has to say? His feelings of unworthiness, which reside just below the surface at all times, start to give him doubts.

"Yes there _is_ something more." She thinks she knows what he's talking about. It helps that he turns to look at her when he speaks. Polite, she notices. "I don't play written music very often any more. I just make it up from it from my heart."

_There. That was a couple of sentences. Slow. Maybe a little stumble, but not bad._

"Well, it's beautiful." He says and smiles.

Lin likes his smile. It's pure and guileless and genuine. Her family and their friends have different smiles. Calculating smiles with tight lips and eyes that seem to dart everywhere in the room, as they don't even pretend to give the person to whom they're talking their undivided attention.

She likes how much she understands of the conversation. And although she responds slowly, she hasn't noticed that telltale look in his eye that says he's ready to move on and find someone easier to talk to. He asks her a few more questions about her music and she's fairly certain she's understood them and answered them correctly. Too soon they are nearing the long drive to her home.

"Thank you." She blushes slightly. "We're almost to my home. You don't have to walk me the whole way." She says in her measured way hoping he'll take the hint and turn around as they reach the stone walls that flank the wrought iron gate.

"Lin!" An angry voice yells from the gate.

_Uh oh. Too late._

"What are you doing with him?" A snide male voice jabbers at her.

Lin's brothers advance on them quickly and Taoki stiffens visibly. He hates these guys. The obnoxious Cho Sung brothers, Bai and Dozu. They are frequent attendees at royal events and have not made it a secret that they disdain and vilify the White Spirits as well as Prince Yukio himself.

Bai, the eldest, reaches out and pulls Lin behind him as if she needs protection from Taoki, who simply stares at the brothers with narrowed eyes. He glances over at her and sees that her own eyes are sparking with annoyance. For his sake? He hopes so.

"Don't!" She snaps as Dozu pushes her further toward the gate.

"Father's been asking for you, Lin. If you're a good little girl and go in right now, we won't tell him you've been meeting secretly with the freak." Dozu sneers, keeping his eyes on Taoki the whole time, obviously not caring that his sister won't understand most of what he's said since she can't see his face.

"Stop!" She stamps her foot, but the only one listening to her is Taoki and he's looking very intently at her now that he realizes who she is.

"What are you doing with our sister, White Spirit?" Bai asks, contempt dripping from every word, a malicious grin twitching the corners of his mouth. The aristocrat finally has instigation for teaching one of the White Spirit pretenders a lesson in who belongs where. Who's going to contradict him; Lin? He smirks.

Lin pushes back at Dozu and tries to get between Taoki and Bai. She had been afraid this would happen. The pale young man is so fine-boned and slim, actually fragile-looking, and her brothers are such bullies, she knew they would jump at the chance to push him around, maybe even give him a beating if the mood strikes them.

Upset, seething and humiliated, Lin's vocabulary flies from her brain. She shoves Bai, but he doesn't budge. He glares into Taoki's oddly impassive face saying something about her and calling him names.

"Stop!" She yells as loudly as she can rushing at her brother and ramming him with her forearms so that he at least looks at her.

She tries to form the words to explain that Taoki did her a service, but her distress keeps them from coming.

"Friend!" She nearly sobs pointing at Taoki, defeated and horribly aware that after this outburst he will know he's been walking and conversing with a defective for the past half hour.

She covers her mouth with her hand, her wide, miserable eyes staring at the pale young man who looks back at her with interest.

"I'm sorry." She whispers to him and turns to run through the gate to her home.

"You think you can take advantage of our sister just because she's a dummy?" Dozu asks Taoki viciously after she's gone.

Bai comes at the smaller young man, his fist raised, Dozu approaching from the other side. They don't get a chance to land a blow however because their quarry disappears from between them, runs up the stone wall, flips over and scissor kicks the two of them in the face as he comes down.

"Your sister is not a dummy." He says quietly to the brothers as he turns.

Flat on their backs they watch him walk away.


	7. Wait

**Wait**

Katara awakes with the sun, disoriented and with a sinking heart. He hadn't come to talk after supper. He'd sent a message instead that Baron Cho Sung had requested an audience with some urgency. She had waited in her chair by the fire anyway.

Someone must have carried her to the bed.

And now, at dawn she's still alone.

Despite her best efforts to keep the tears from falling, they streak down her face. She pulls the covers away and gets out of bed. She slips on her robe and goes to the window, pulling the heavy drapes aside. The sun is halfway through the horizon, pinking the sky and setting the ocean before it aflame.

Feeling stupid for her histrionics she tries to pull it together, biting back an unwelcome sob and concentrating on the beauty of the view. She blames her overemotional state on her pregnancy and her husband. She pins her ultimate failure to hold back the tears on herself. Deciding a good cry is an excellent way to start the day she lets loose and sobs to her heart's content.

And so it must be the sobbing that keeps her from hearing the door opening and closing.

"Katara, are you okay?" Zuko pulls her around to face him and looks into her drenched eyes worriedly. "Is something wrong with the baby?"

"No!" She pushes him away, mortified to be caught in such a state. "Go away."

"What's the matter?" He sounds legitimately confused. "Why are you crying?"

He pulls her back to face him and she looks in his eyes, knowing he isn't a good enough pretender to fool her. He has no idea. Tragically that knowledge makes her cry even harder and she tries to push him away again, but this time he holds her tightly.

"You d-didn't come." She chokes. Humiliated she tries once again to pull it together and fails miserably.

"Didn't come? Last night? I sent you a message telling you why. Didn't you get it?" He's prepared to fire someone if the message didn't get delivered, but he knows it's not just that. He's coming around slowly, but it's finally dawning on him that the message itself as much as anything caused this reaction.

"I g-got your m-message." She's hiccupping now and her pride takes another hit.

"Come here." He pulls her gently to their sitting area near the hearth. "Sit down."

He sets her in her chair and pulls the other one over so he's sitting directly in front of her. He reaches over and takes her hands in his own but she pulls them away and crosses her arms over her chest.

He sighs.

"Cho Sung requested an audience with me to lodge a formal complaint against and to demand the arrest of one of the White Spirits." He explains levelly.

"What?" She sits up straight in her chair.

"He claimed his sons were attacked by one of the twins."

"Kenya." Katara shakes her head. Sometimes that boy can have such a short temper.

"Taoki." Zuko corrects her and then nods, smiling at the look on her face.

"He claimed Taoki attacked one of his sons?"

"_Both_ of his sons."

Now that Katara's crying has calmed and she's more interested in the baron's visit, Zuko relays the particulars.

He'd received an urgent missive from the cranky baron regarding an attack both of his sons had suffered at the hands of one of the White Spirits and the old man demanded an audience and satisfaction. Zuko naturally had his people arrange for the meeting. He had the twins brought to him and, seeing neither one of them with cuts, scrapes or bruises, he questioned them fully about the incident.

Confident in the outcome of the audience, Zuko dismissed Kenya and placed Taoki in the antechamber to the throne room.

Baron Cho Sung walked confidently to the seated Fire Lord, bowed respectfully and knelt on the carpet. This is the part Zuko always loves when these older barons come to him. Many of them, especially Cho Sung, played both sides of the Pacification and managed to get away with it through politics and Zuko hates all of them. To have them take a subservient posture is a nice little payback in the midst of each stressful day.

"You have a complaint about one of the White Spirits, baron?" Zuko had asked curtly.

"Yes, my lord. This afternoon both of my sons were attacked. They have informed me that it was one of your inner circle who managed to surprise them and kick them each in the face for no reason whatsoever." The baron replied with great indignation.

"Hmm." Zuko furrowed his brow. "Did your sons say which one was the attacker?"

"They could not tell, my lord, the White Spirits look exactly alike."

"There are differences. Your sons should try getting to know them better." The Fire Lord said off-handedly before nodding to his attendant. "I think I know which one. We'll get his side of the story."

"Of course, my lord. I would remind you of my family's many years of service to the Fire Nation and to the Fire Lord's forebears including Fire Lord Iroh."

Zuko looked at the man with an expression that could only be described as mystified.

"What in the world has that got to do with anything?" He asked the air rather than addressing the comment to the baron. No answer from the old man was forthcoming, nor was it expected.

Taoki entered the throne room, back straight, head held high. He positioned himself as far away from the baron as possible and knelt before Zuko.

"My Lord." He bowed.

"Taoki, you're accused of attacking Baron Cho Sung's sons. Do you have an explanation?"

"My lord I was walking their sister, Lin, home from the beach and Bai and Dozu accosted us, insulting her and finally, after she'd run away, attacking me, at which point I felt the need to defend myself." He looked over at the baron with passionless focus. "Which I did." He said pointedly.

"He doesn't have a mark on him!" The baron exclaimed foolishly.

"I was attacked. I was not hit." Taoki continued to look at the man with an unnerving, disdainful gaze.

"My lord, my sons would not lie to me about the circumstances of this atrocity." Cho Sung sputtered.

"Atrocity?" Zuko's eyebrows raised and then lowered as his eyes narrowed menacingly. "I've seen atrocity Baron Cho Sung. An incident causing a couple of boys to have their faces bruised does not qualify."

"Of course, my lord." Said the old man, chastened but with a tight jaw. "Please forgive my overstatement."

Zuko didn't respond. He turned to Taoki instead.

"The brothers insulted their sister?" He asked.

"Yes my lord." Taoki nodded.

"Although the baron hasn't shown interest in this aspect of the encounter, I'm certain he'd like to know what his sons said about his daughter." Zuko said imperiously.

"Of course my lord." Cho Sung responded strongly, sounding indignant again.

Taoki's face pinked slightly. He wished he hadn't told that part of the story. He was embarrassed for the girl.

"They called her a dummy, my lord." He said.

"Why would they do that?" Zuko asked, his brow furrowing at the baron.

"My daughter has problems." The baron had the nerve to sound ashamed, not of his sons' behavior but of his daughter's disability.

"Then you must be furious at your sons for ridiculing her." Zuko said as if sharing the man's non-existent outrage. "And grateful to Taoki for teaching them a lesson in manners."

"My lord, this is one side of the story." The baron rallied. "My sons felt they were protecting Lin from being further compromised. She's very naïve."

At Taoki's appalled look Zuko raised his hand for silence.

"And why would your sons believe Taoki had compromised her?" He asked quietly.

"Well…" The baron had a problem then. He had no proof of anything his sons had told him. He could not point out the fact that the White Spirits were not from a fine family because the prince himself was half peasant. His sons had put him in this position by antagonizing a member of the Fire Lord's inner circle. Although he couldn't let the skirmish go ignored, he also couldn't gain the upper hand against the Fire Lord with the flimsy story he was forced to wield. Zuko wondered how such a foolish man had become so powerful.

Despite the baron's current precarious position, the answer to Zuko's question is obvious; the power and wealth were inherited and the man has no scruples to keep him from blackmailing and bribing any lesser baron of the nobility whenever he needs to. He only meets his match when he comes to the palace.

"Perhaps we'd better have your sons come and tell their side of the story as well. And bring your daughter, baron. I'd like to meet her." Zuko said amiably.

The old man had obviously counted on this last request. So far it was the one thing that seemed to have gone right for him in this debacle. He preened and smiled as he met the Fire Lord's eyes.

"Perhaps the prince would like an introduction as well?" The baron said silkily.

The only thing that kept Zuko from laughing out loud was the crushed expression on Taoki's face.

"That would be fine." He got up from the throne and Taoki and Baron Cho Sung bowed.

"If you ever speak to my daughter again, I'll have you killed." The old man hissed under his breath at Taoki.

The teenager rose to his feet and walked from the room without acknowledging the baron had even spoken.

"And for the next hour I talked to both twins and Yukio about the Cho Sung brothers, the sister and how to go about future encounters with them." Zuko finishes his story, looking worriedly at his wife whose nose and eyes are still glowing red even though the crying has stopped. "I came straight here when I left them but you were already asleep in the chair. You didn't even twitch when I moved you to the bed."

"Oh." Now she feels really stupid. She had felt so sure she held the higher ground. "Where were you this morning?"

"Yukio and the twins have been added to my sparring rotation. It's their week. We have to train before the sun comes up."

"Why didn't anyone mention it to me?" She asks.

"I don't know." He sits back in his chair. "I probably thought I did."

Katara looks away from him. Looks anywhere else in the room besides her husband's face.

"Why were you crying when I came in?" He asks softly.

"I didn't know Cho Sung had a daughter." She responds flatly, knowing she's being childish by abruptly changing the subject, but also knowing she needs a few minutes to get her thoughts together.

"I'd forgotten. She's eighteen so I was just eight when she was born. I remember a big celebration in the Cho Sung's ballroom. Anyway, it wasn't long after that I had bigger things on my mind and I haven't thought of her since." He responds.

"Are you going to talk to him about threatening Taoki?"

"I'm sure he thinks Taoki kept it to himself. But that he can so easily threaten to have someone killed indicates he knows people who can do it so that bears watching." Zuko looks closely at her, willing her to look back, but she doesn't.

"Taoki likes this girl?"

"A lot it seems. Yukio won't interfere, but we may have some trouble getting Taoki access to her."

"I'm still tired. I think I'll go back to bed." Katara rises from her chair and Zuko follows suit, blocking her way.

"Not until you tell me why you were crying."

"Why are you isolating me?" She asks, finally raising her stricken eyes to his.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Why am I not included in meetings anymore? Why don't you talk to me about your day? Why don't you come to me until it's so late I'm either asleep or barely awake? Why don't you touch me? Why don't you …" Her voice is becoming shrill so she slams her mouth shut and glares at him.

"I'm sorry." He says quietly, staring down at her with sympathy and love but no promise of change.

"Is it Xin? You were expecting me to talk you out of it? Are you disgusted with me because I agreed to the plan?" She sits back down.

"No, I'm not disgusted with you. I _was_ surprised though. But in a good way." He smiles wanly. "I did expect you to try to talk me out of it."

"Then why?"

"Because of Xin." He confirms shrugging.

"Because you waited? Because your father would have done it five years ago?" She shakes her head, trying to understand.

"Because _I_ would have done it five years ago." He answers.

"Then why didn't you?"

"I wanted you to marry me." He admits sheepishly.

"What does that mean? You thought I wouldn't marry you if you had Xin … taken care of?"

"I didn't want you to think I was a monster."

"I hated Xin more than anybody." The full truth of what he's telling her starts to sink in and the anger that greets it flashes from her eyes.

"I wouldn't have done it for hate, Katara. My reasons were colder. More ruthless. People like Xin can't exist with the rest of the world unless they have a chance to rule it. So people like Xin can't exist."

"Why would I think you were a monster?"

"Because I wouldn't have thought twice about ordering it."

"But you did."

"I did."

She stares at him, incredulous, for long moments.

"You still think I make you weak." She seethes.

He doesn't answer and that gives her all the response she needs.

"You're wrong, Zuko. I don't make you weak. _You_ make you weak. And I've been letting it happen to me too, but not any more. I have never second-guessed you. If you worry what I think before you make a decision then that's _your_ problem." She rises quickly this time, before he has a chance to stop her and skirts past him heading for the bathing chamber door.

"Wait." He strides after her but the door slams in his face.

He rests his forehead against the smooth wood and tries the handle, knowing it will be locked and it is.

"You're right Katara. It_ is_ my problem." He says through the door, hoping she can hear him and understand. "I can't stand having you see me like that. I still think of your first impression of me. The monster I was. I never want you to see that side of me again. And I've been lucky the past five years. I thought I could erase that first impression but sometimes I have to…" He closes his eyes, feeling incredibly foolish; imagining a maid standing alone in the chamber listening to him plead with his wife who has left by way of the adjoining bedroom. "Please open the door."

He counts thirty heartbeats before the latch turns and the door opens.

Katara only takes one step inside the room. She leans back against the wall to the side of the chamber door and focuses eyes brightened with tears and residual fury on him. But when she finally speaks her voice is controlled.

"I'm not perfect so perfection doesn't appeal to me. You should know that by now." She says evenly. "There are people in this world who sit in their lovely lives surrounding themselves with comfortable things that soothe them and keep them from ugliness. And there are others who make the difficult decisions and act on them. The decisions that hurt. And they keep the comfortable people safe and contented. I may be thankful that I'm not in the position to make those difficult decisions but I can appreciate that they sometimes need to be made. I'd like to think that my presence would help you to know that I trust you instead of inhibiting you. That's why I want to be there. To give something back. I'd rather be a helpmeet than a pet, Zuko."

"I had a plan in place back then." He looks at the floor. "I even called a meeting with Bokkusu to implement it. You were out doing wedding planning with Ty Lee so I took the opportunity to meet with him privately. But I never even got around to talking about it with him. We talked about something else instead."

"You second guessed yourself and I wouldn't even have known whether or not you'd followed through on your plan." She points out.

"You would have known."

"Maybe I'd have thought it was Keui. He had motive."

"And if you'd asked me I would have lied and said it was him?" It's a rhetorical question. He smiles at the thought of trying to lie to her about something like that. It's so absurd even she smiles.

"I'd have known." She agrees. "Have there been any other times when you stopped yourself from doing something because of me?"

"Like I said, I've been lucky since the attack. Just about everybody else is in my custody, so I didn't have to worry." He shrugs.

"Until now." She says.

"Until Xin created a cult around himself with people who already had a tendency toward crime, some of whom are now out of prison and living right here in the Fire Nation."

"So where do we go from here?" She asks tentatively. Have they resolved anything? She's not even sure they've said everything that needs to be said.

"I'm not sure." He says honestly. "I can't help wanting to keep things positive for you. I can't just forget the ugliness this country has put you through. That I've put you through. And now that the time has finally come to deal with some of these things, I hate for you to see it from the inside."

"I already have." She laughs at him now. "For crying out loud Zuko, just because it gives me pain to have killed those men during the war doesn't mean I think I did the wrong thing. I'd do it again, even though I'm thankful that I haven't had to. But don't ever think I can't. There are so many things I want our children to know about us and one of the most important of those things is that we're prepared to do whatever the situation calls for. No matter what."

"No matter what?" He raises an eyebrow.

"This nation is our children's legacy. Do you think I'd let enemies run rampant just to keep my hands clean?"

"No, you'd freeze them to something."

"And don't forget it."

He places his palms against the wall on either side of her head and leans in close to her face.

"You won't let me protect you from the sordid demands of monarchy?"

"You'll break my heart if you do. Zuko you've barely spoken to me this week. When you keep one part of your life from me, you take everything. That's why I was crying. Because I was alone. And if having to be exposed to unsavory practices means I won't have to be alone in all the other areas of our life, I'll gladly be there to back you up."

He reaches down with one hand and gently palms her rounded belly.

"I don't want to break your heart." He murmurs looking intently where his hand rests as if he can see the forming life beneath the robe and skin.

He suddenly looks up at her and smiles. He kisses her quickly on the lips and turns to leave the room.

"I've already eaten breakfast, but I'll come for the company. After that there's a meeting with the Admirals and Commanders in port. And then there's an audience with the elders from the province of To Ku and then a meeting with the Minister of Antiquities from Omashu. Lunch after that. Are you up for it?" He looks back at her.

"Are you trying to teach me a lesson?" She smirks.

"Are there any lessons you think you need to learn?" He asks, deflecting her question and she knows she's in for a busy day.

"I'm up for it." She assures him.

As the door shuts behind him Katara thinks again of their conversation. She wonders if people will ever stop thinking of her as someone who needs to be protected from the ugliness of reality. But the person being protected in this equation is Zuko. He's guarding himself against the kindness of her heart as he navigates the brutality of bare-knuckle international politics. He's going to have to get over that, she decides.

She also thinks of the long days she's got ahead of her as she proves to Zuko she's up to the task of being his partner.

How amused he'll be when afternoon naptime rolls around and she lays her head in her arms on the conference table for a nice, long drooly sleep.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Later in the day when the afternoon wears on and Katara takes a small respite between meetings to visit with Ahni, Zuko intrudes on Minister Kuo in the security man's office.

"Security Council meetings will be general for the time being. You'll meet with me directly for anything of a specific nature and I'll approve what gets brought up with the Council. _Nothing_ from our private meetings is to be discussed outside of those particular conversations or this office." Zuko explains without even sitting. "The meetings will have to be sporadic for now. I'll come to you."

"Yes, my lord." The elder box man bows and watches his sovereign stride out the door.

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**A/N:** This was a difficult conversation to write. Sorry it took so long. Whew! Don't worry, we'll check back with Bokkusu, Vallon and Toph, Yukio and finally see what's up with Ty Lee and Aang real soon. Stick with me…please?

Thanks for reviews!

MacFie xoxo


	8. Gift

**Gift**

Prince Yukio swims in the ocean every day after training. Sometimes the sea is so cold he has to raise his body temperature to stand it. Today is one of those days. The bracing chill takes his breath away as he dives headlong into the waves and moves with strong strokes against the current.

The twins cannot accompany him into the ocean. Their sensitive skin makes the reflective water a danger, even with healers in residence at the palace. Yukio doesn't mourn the lack of company though. He likes the solitude of his daily swim. At one point he'd thought of inviting his cousin to join him, but even Zuko's presence would feel like an intrusion.

As he strides through the surf up to the rocky beach he shakes the water out of his hair like a dog-parrot and then reties his ponytail with a leather thong. He has a security contingent waiting for him not twenty-five yards away. Since he became the prince he's had hardly a single unwatched moment. He's not even sure there isn't someone assigned to check on him as he sleeps.

A cloud of steam engulfs him and he steps out of it dry, although somewhat salt encrusted. He towels off the residue and as he's giving attention to his seasoned knees a movement behind a boulder catches his peripheral vision.

His daily training and Bokkusu's firm mentoring allow him to continue his action without the slightest hint of hesitation. He watches out of the corner of his eye, focusing without turning his head, and he finally sees it. It reveals itself to be the fluttering corner of some kind of fabric: a robe or dress or perhaps a blanket. He wonders if there's a person attached.

He has a couple of choices and, although he longs to take the riskier path and walk right up to the boulder and see who it is, he decides to do what Zuko would want. He heads over to his security team. At his nod, the team leader approaches.

"There's something behind that boulder over there. I'm going to check it out. Cover me from here." Okay, he thinks, it's not _exactly_ what Zuko would want him to do.

"Your highness, I'll check." The team leader steps forward.

"I just told you what's going to happen." Yukio raises an eyebrow. He hates to play the royalty card, but he also hates being followed around all day and protected like an old lady. He's learned to live with those things he hates.

He turns purposefully and stalks over, daring the bearer of the fabric to attack if that's the motive. Of course, it could simply be a scarf blown down the slope and trapped by the rocks, which will be humiliating since he just acted so tough with his security team leader. Again, he's learned to live with such things.

The wind ruffles his salty hair pulling some shorter strands free of the binding and he pushes them out of his eyes.

On the other side of the boulder, curled around a small, wooden box is a child. He can't tell if it's a boy or a girl, but it's small. Not a baby. More like a toddler or even a small version of a four or five-year-old. Dirty, pale, and clothed in shreds, Yukio is not convinced he isn't looking at a corpse.

Still cautious and prepared for a trap he steps around the sheltering rock and crouches to touch the still form. The grimy flesh is not completely cold and he puts his fingers to the spot on the child's neck where the pulse should be. He feels a faint, but steady thrum and looks up at his team leader. The man comes running, his sword drawn.

"Stand down!" Yukio barks. "Uh…please. Go get my shirt and bring it to me. There's a child here who needs warmer clothes."

The man turns and jogs back to the bundle of clothes on the rocks by the security team. He hurriedly brings them back as Yukio turns the child onto its back and checks for injuries. A fall or even a roll down the slope could cause a number of broken bones, although he sees no blood or bruising, only dirt. Lots of dirt.

He pulls his shirt over the matted hair and peers down at the angelic little face as he maneuvers the skinny arms though the sleeves. He looks closely at the box and sees no opening. He places it on the child's stomach, rests the tiny hands on top and straightens the tail of the shirt under the feather light body.

As he lifts the little one in his arms the translucent eyelids flutter open and look dazedly at him.

"Brother?" Barely audible the raspy, childish voice fades as the dark eyes focus on Yukio's face.

"You have a brother?" The prince asks gently, smiling kindly.

"Tinn." It comes out a moan rather than a statement and the child closes its eyes and drifts again into unconsciousness.

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Katara walks as quickly as she can down the corridor toward the family wing. It is not often a meeting is interrupted, although this particular one had been boring and she had been staring into space, trying to think of some way to adjust her demand that she be included in the entirety of her husband's life. She actually didn't quite demand that, but in his own passive-aggressive way it's what he's doing. She's determined to show him she's not as much of a bleeding heart as he thinks she is, but attending every meeting in every day could just be the end of her.

By the time she reaches Yukio's rooms she's picturing any number of horrible things that could cause this summons. She's not at all picturing the tiny form on the prince's bed, wrapped in his shirt and pale as a ghost.

"Who is this?" She asks rushing to the bed.

Yukio shrugs his still-bared shoulders and steps to the side to give her access.

"I have no idea. I don't even know if it's a boy or a girl." He answers.

"You didn't check?" She asks pulling the shirt up to reveal the tattered clothing.

"No!" Yukio blushes deeply, horrified that someone would suggest he peruse a strange child's private parts even if only to determine the gender of said child.

Katara suppresses a chuckle. Being a healer she's seen countless bodies both young and old and only on very rare occasions has she been embarrassed. This little girl is in good hands.

"Does she have a name?" Katara asks.

"She? Um… no." Yukio says taking a closer look at the little girl as if she'll look different to him now that he knows at least one thing about her. "I think she might have a brother named Tinn. I left half my security team out there to search."

"She looks to have been abandoned." Katara pulls Yukio's shirt over the girl's head and begins to remove the rags.

"I thought so too." Yukio nods before turning away.

"You're very sweet to be concerned with her privacy Yukio. I know you want to be here while I clean and examine her so why don't you go behind the dressing screen and we can talk about how you found her." Katara says kindly.

"Okay." He immediately goes to the rice paper screen and sits behind it. From his vantage point he can just see Katara but the screen cuts off his view of the bed. He'll remember this angle in case one of the occasionally amorous maids sneaks into his room again and he needs to hide.

"You said she spoke to you." Katara has disrobed the tiny body, fretted over the protruding ribcage with the filthy skin stretched tautly over it, and set her water to her hands to determine any injuries.

"She woke up for a second when I picked her up and she said 'brother.' I asked her if she had a brother and then she said 'Tinn.' She was upset about him I think."

"I wonder where he could be." Katara checks the legs and, feeling no breaks or deep contusions, moves up to the torso.

"I can only think he went to get help and didn't come back." Yukio says. The supposition breaks his heart as he imagines the little girl waiting patiently for her brother to return.

"How awful." Katara checks all over the little girl's head for concussion but she's already concluded that malnutrition is the cause of the persistent unconsciousness.

"She had that box over there on the table with her. It's a puzzle box. Maybe it has some clue as to who she is in it." Yukio says.

"Toph's good at those. Too bad she's not here. But before we invade this little girl's privacy further lets see what she can tell us when she wakes up." Katara grins. She wants to solve this mystery as much as Yukio, but they have to give their patient at least a couple of hours.

The door opens quietly and Ahni and Sokka slip into the room. The Water Tribe captain looks over at Yukio behind the screen and furrows his brow.

"Put a shirt on." He tells the prince.

"I'm salty." Yukio scowls back.

"Do we know who she is?" Ahni asks going to the bed and touching the young cheek.

"No, but there's a search party looking for her brother. At least we think she has a brother. I'm going to join them." Katara returns the water to the pouch and nods to the nurses who have come from the palace nursery to help with bathing and clothing the child. Gingerly the older women lift the little girl from the bed and carry her to the bathing chamber.

Yukio emerges from behind the screen, startling Ahni who hadn't noticed him there when she came in..

"I was giving her some privacy." He grumbles wondering why everyone is looking at him so amusedly.

"I'll join the search party too." Sokka says turning for the door. "Any idea how old the boy might be?"

"I don't even know if he exists." Yukio responds and once again shares his account of finding the girl.

"I'll go with Sokka, Katara. You stay here." Ahni says moving past her husband even as he reaches out to take her arm.

"This could take a long time Ahni. I'd rather you stay." He tells her.

"I know you'd rather that, but if you find the boy it would be beneficial to have a healer immediately to hand. He's been out there longer than the girl, the difference between immediate care and attention delayed by a trip back to the palace could be death." She explains and watches as he very quickly decides she's right. It's a sight she's seen a lot since their marriage. She never wearies of it.

"If you get tired, you rest." He orders.

"Aye-aye." She says amiably, kissing him on the cheek and he pretends to glare down at her.

"I should go." Katara says. "You're due much sooner than I am."

"No." Ahni smiles sweetly and walks out of the room.

Katara shakes her head. Her sister-in-law does that often. She rejects a suggestion in the most blunt way while leaving the impression of having just given a loving hug. It's quite a talent.

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Zuko enters the bedchamber and smiles at his wife and cousin hovering over the still form of the sleeping child. Unfortunately, the contented scene is an illusion. Katara is trying to spoon some clear broth into the girl's mouth and it keeps dribbling out. She's obviously getting frustrated and Yukio's trying to help.

"Why don't you bend it?" Zuko suggests.

"What if she chokes?" Yukio asks, concerned.

"It's just broth, she might cough or throw up but I can keep her from choking." Katara eyes Zuko, almost annoyed that he pointed out the obvious solution when she had been sitting there for half an hour spooning tiny bits of soup into the girl's mouth and trying to catch it with the spoon before it ran into her ears.

"I don't know what's wrong with me. Bending used to be my go-to. Now that I'm not sparring, I only ever think about it for healing." Katara shakes her head.

"Maybe you're losing your mind." Zuko suggests sincerely and smiles at her as if he's quite proud of the fact that he's figured out the cause of her difficulties.

"I must be." She looks at him pointedly and works on getting the broth down the girl's throat.

"She'll be okay?" Zuko asks.

"I think so. If I can get something in her stomach, she should recover. She was pretty well frozen but Yukio warmed her a little on the way back and now she's under the blankets so her body-temperature's back to normal."

"Any news of the brother?"

"None." Yukio answers. "Maybe I should go out there too."

"Stay here. She'll want a familiar face when she wakes up." Katara says.

"Let me know of any changes. Katara I'll give your regrets to the comptroller for the Mon Tsu ruby mines." Zuko smirks and moves to leave but then turns back to kiss his wife on the forehead.

"You should learn his name before the meeting." She says turning her attention back to the broth and the child.

"I'll try." He promises as he exits the room.

On the other side of the door Zuko turns down the hallway and heads to Minister Kuo for an impromptu meeting.

The poor urchin's timing could not have been better for the plans he needs to put in place before his life can get back to normal. Katara's interest in the young girl will give him more flexibility in his meetings with the security man.

Bokkusu should be home soon and that will give him even more leeway as they spend time together before and after training every day already.

Zuko takes a deep breath and opens the minister's office door. Soon. It will all be a plan -- a list of events -- and he can finally wipe it from his mind and get on with his life.

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"It'll be dark within the hour." Sokka points out grimly.

"We're assuming he's on the beach. He could be anywhere." Taoki mutters looking up the slope for anything that looks like a cave or indent where a child could hide.

"It's all we've got to go on." Kenya says narrowing his eyes as he gazes down the shoreline.

"There are people searching all over the capitol." Ahni says putting her arm through Sokka's. "I think he's either here on the beach or at the Harbor Market trying to get some food."

"Taoki." Kenya puts his hand on his brother's arm. "See that black speck way up there?"

"No." Taoki snorts. "If _you're_ calling it a speck it's invisible to the rest of us."

"Straight down the beach. Between the ocean and the cliffs. Go see if it's something."

Taoki stares intently down the shoreline and then shakes his head. He takes off in a high-speed run down the beach. Kenya looks at the others.

"He's a fast runner." He says defensively.

A few minutes later a fire blast lights the sky and Kenya grins happily. As he and Sokka jog toward the site of the flare he can see Taoki approaching what appears to be a boy of around eight years who seems oblivious to him. The child walks in a pattern back and forth on the beach, unaware of anything else around him.

When they reach the two they find Taoki softly talking to the boy, calming the child but allowing him to keep pacing back and forth. The boy's panicked expression and hysterical muttering pulls at their hearts.

"He thinks he forgot where he left her. I'll bet he's been looking for hours. He's miles from where Prince Yukio said he found her." Taoki says quietly.

"Tinn?" Sokka says calmly, but the boy doesn't stop moving. "Your sister's at the palace with _my_ sister. We left her in good hands and she wants to see you."

"He's not listening." Kenya says worriedly. "How are we going to get him to the palace?"

"Is there anything Ahni can do?" Taoki asks.

"I think so. We'll have to wait though. She's definitely not going to run here." Sokka looks down the beach at his wife who walks at a fast clip toward them but is still far enough away that they may as well get comfortable.

Suddenly, over the rise above them a large group of Fire Nation soldiers on ostrich-horses appears and races down the slope to surround them. Part of the search party, they are responding to Taoki's flare and they wait for their orders.

"Can one of you go get my wife?" Sokka asks and he watches as a member of the coterie of riders races off to do the job. "Be gentle!" He calls after him.

Suddenly the boy's eyes focus on the soldiers and their mounts and he screams and falls to the ground, covering his head and curling himself into a tight ball.

Taoki drops down beside him and pats his back, whispering calming words while Sokka and Kenya organize the soldiers in a retreat, pushing them out and away from the boy's immediate line of vision.

Ahni soon appears beside them and kneels by the boy, pulling water from her pouch, coating her hands with it and stroking his head with long, leisurely movements. His trembling stops almost immediately and after a minute or so his muscles start to relax.

"Tinn?" Sokka crouches beside his wife and speaks gently to he boy. "Your sister wants to see you. Come with us. I promise the soldiers won't hurt you." If anyone had ever told him he'd say something like that about Fire Nation soldiers he'd have laughed in their faces and then given them a lecture about stupidity in all its forms.

"Kim." The boy's muffled voice says.

"What?" Sokka bends closer.

"Her name is Kim. I lost her on the beach. I forgot where I left her." He's crying now, big, helpless sobs and Ahni gathers him into her arms.

"It's okay Tinn. A handsome prince found Kim and took her to the palace. She's waiting for you there." She rocks him soothingly for a long time until he stops crying while the others look sympathetically on.

"I can't go to the palace." Tinn says brokenly, wiping his eyes and smearing dirt across his face.

"Why not?" She pushes his grimy hair back out of his eyes and smiles at him.

"Because the Fire Lord will kill me."

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**A/N:** More OCs!! But there's also Yukio, who has been requested more than once. Our handsome prince is growing up. ;-)

MacFie xoxo


	9. Surprise

**A/N:** I haven't worked on this fic in a while so you may want to glance at the previous chapters to get caught up. Thanks for reading!

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Surprise

Zuko stands next to Yukio's bed and gazes down at the two children sleeping there. The boy has his arm protectively thrown across his sister and even in sleep his expression shows worry and tension.

"You've never seen him before?" Katara asks her husband.

"No." Zuko had waited until the boy had fallen asleep before coming to have a look. The child had been so upset nobody wanted to traumatize him further by having him come face-to-face with his greatest fear. Just getting him to the palace had been shattering enough.

"Do you feel the urge to kill him?" Sokka asks in a mock serious tone.

"No." Zuko replies. "The only children I have an urge to kill are _your_ eldest pelt rats."

"Ah so." Sokka nods understandingly and Ahni punches his arm.

"Can you please take this seriously? He was really terrified." Katara scolds them. "Why would he believe Zuko would want to kill him?"

"Probably just a bedtime story someone told him to scare him into behaving." Zuko shrugs. It's not the first time he's been used to terrify someone into towing the line. It won't be the last.

But even as he tries to be nonchalant about it, Zuko can't help feeling angry at whoever put such frightening thoughts in these children's heads. By all accounts the boy, Tinn, had been hysterical with fear. Whatever he's been taught has obviously been over-the-line. And regardless of the insult to the Fire Lord, their people have some explaining to do for their condition. If there _are_ any people, which seems doubtful at this point.

Yukio looks at the kids in his bed. He suppresses a shudder as he realizes how close they both came to dying of exposure. If he hadn't noticed Kim's blanket they wouldn't have found either one of them. He touches the little girl's dark hair; curling softly around his finger now that it's been washed.

"Where are you sleeping tonight, Yukio?" Zuko asks his cousin. There is no question but that the children will remain in the prince's bedroom at least for the night.

"I'm going to stay in the maid's chamber in case they wake up." Yukio says.

The prince's rooms are a suite with a huge main bedroom, a bathing chamber, a small room for a maid or valet and a closet so large it could house a small family. He has never used the maid's chamber for anything, as he doesn't trust the female servants to keep their hands to themselves while he's trying to sleep and he never uses a valet so it's typically vacant.

"That's sweet of you. If Kim wakes up she'll be particularly comforted by seeing you." Ahni says looking lovingly down at the children prompting Sokka to pull her toward the door.

"Come on, Ahni. I see that look in your eye. We aren't keeping them. We have enough of our own." He says.

"You can never have enough children." Ahni says and those remaining in the bedroom hear Sokka snort as the door closes behind them.

------------------------------------------------------------

Zuko stops Katara outside the door to their rooms and wraps his arms around her. As he kisses her passionately her eyes go wide. After five years their love life is far from tedious, but this kind of ambush has not happened in a while.

Getting into the spirit she threads her fingers through his hair and pulls him tightly to her. His hands begin to explore and she pulls away.

"Zuko! We're in the hallway!" She says breathlessly before he reengages her lips.

While he continues to kiss her he pulls her topknot down and her hair falls in waves around their faces. He leans into her, pressing her into the closed door as he unhooks the top of her robe, pulling it wide before moving his lips along her jaw line to her neck. Her knees go weak and she's happy for the door's support, but she can't forget that they're not in their private rooms and he's not stopping!

"Zuko!" She whispers poking him in the shoulder. "Let's go in the room."

He ignores her, moving her robe further to the side and making an assault with his lips on her bared shoulder resulting in a low moan from the back of her throat.

Suddenly their door opens and Katara would fall to the floor but for Zuko's arms holding her. As it is he stumbles through the now opened threshold, pulling her along between his legs.

"What the…" He growls looking up.

"Aang!" Katara says smiling up at the avatar from her nearly prone position.

"What are you doing in our room?" Zuko snaps.

"We were waiting for you." Aang says smiling and grabbing Katara under her arms to haul her up.

"We wanted to see you first before anyone!" Ty Lee rushes up to hug her friends. She gets a warm embrace from Katara, a perfunctory pat from Zuko.

"When did you get back?" Katara straightens her clothing before she hugs Aang, ignoring her husband's muttering even as her nerves are still tingling from their so recent activities.

"Less than an hour ago. We heard you had some excitement and everyone was in Yukio's rooms but we wanted to see just the two of you before we see everyone else." Ty Lee explains.

"Why?" Katara asks.

"We got married!" The body bender squeals, jumping up and down.

"Pathik performed a ceremony for us at the air temple and … well, it's official." Aang grins ecstatically and pulls Ty Lee tightly to his side.

"When did you … " Katara's smile freezes to her face. She can't quite figure out why she feels as if she's been hit with a twenty-ton boulder but she does.

"A week ago." Ty Lee giggles. "Look!" She points their attention to her new necklace that bears a stone carved with the symbol of the air nomads. It looks very like Katara's necklace that she still wears from time to time when she's feeling sentimental.

"I liked the necklace tradition from the Northern Water Tribe so much I adopted it." Aang says.

"That's amazing." Katara hugs them both.

"Congratulations Ty Lee." Zuko hugs her genuinely this time. He turns to Aang and smiles. "Congratulations avatar."

"Don't I get a hug Zuko?" Aang teases.

"No." The Fire Lord responds and puts his arms around Katara. He'd like for them to leave. He's happy if they're happy, but he had other plans for this evening.

"Do you want to sit down?" Katara asks and only she can hear the short exhalation of breath beside her.

"Um…no." Aang looks at Ty Lee. "I think we're going to … turn in."

Zuko perks up and walks over to the door, holding it open for them.

"Are you sure?" He asks.

Aang laughs.

"I think we interrupted something." He says to Ty Lee.

"What did we interrupt?" She asks innocently, but Zuko can see the twinkle in her eyes.

"Out." The Fire Lord says with a strained smile.

"Goodnight." Zuko's "adopted" little sister wiggles her eyebrows and blows him a kiss as she bounces out the door.

Aang chuckles as he follows her.

"Congratulations!" Katara calls after them.

Once Zuko closes the door he turns back to his wife wishing he could pick-up where they left off but having noticed her expression upon hearing the Big News, he knows he can't. Yet.

"You knew they would get married sooner or later." He pulls her in for a comforting embrace.

"I know." She says miserably. "I just thought I'd be there for it."

"Does it really matter all that much?"

"Not really, but it feels like it does. He was … we were… I feel left out." She pouts.

Zuko guides her over to their sitting area by the hearth, sits in a comfortable chair and pulls her onto his lap. She leans her head on his shoulder and relaxes into his consoling arms. They sit silently for so long he's afraid she's fallen asleep.

"I'm sorry." She finally says quietly.

"I don't think he meant to hurt your feelings Katara." Zuko says gently.

"I know. It's just … they _are_ hurt. I know it's selfish and irrational but… it's not fair. I wish I'd been there. It feels like I missed something important and nobody even thought about me."

"He probably had his mind on other things." He smiles tenderly and kisses her forehead. "Think of what it would have been like if he'd started inviting people."

"I never thought I was _people_." She says stubbornly.

"If it bothers you so much you should talk to him about it. He's the avatar. He's supposed to resolve conflicts."

For some reason this makes her chuckle. Then she laughs, her rounded belly shaking uncomfortably.

"I can just see him mediating his own conflict. He would drive himself crazy."

"He's a sucker for a pretty face." Zuko kisses her ear softly.

"Are you just trying to get back to what we were doing in the hall?" Katara shivers as his breath tickles her neck. "In the hall by the way! What was _that_ about?!" Her question fades into a cute whimper as his tongue travels the length of her collarbone.

"We're in private now." He whispers into the sensitive hollow of her neck.

"Yes, we are." She says. Or rather she thinks she says. She stopped being able to communicate rationally when her robe hit the floor.

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"Are you sure?" Vallon asks Bokkusu.

They sit on the bridge of the ship with Toph and Commander Chin discussing some of the recent intelligence that has come by messenger hawk.

"It's more than a rumor but less than fact." The box man says. "It's a small group, but they're close enough to the palace to worry me. And their proximity to the capitol makes them especially hard to spot. If they were in a village we could find them easily. With all the foreign tourists coming into the Fire Harbor every day it's a real job tracking down anyone."

"Do we know a target?" Toph asks.

"The Fire Lord is always the target." Bokkusu says. "But there's a disturbing amount of chatter concerning the princess. All healers, but her especially. We can't get back soon enough as far as I'm concerned."

"Does the Fire Lord know you were under house arrest in the Earth Kingdom?" Chin asks his friend.

"Not yet. Thanks for not sending him a message by the way. I figured it was all for show. Why they would bother over a scumbag like Xin I'll never know." He grumbles remembering how embarrassed he was to be arrested in front of Song simply because he had asked questions about Xin in the days before the old man's death. They had no evidence to accuse him in the first place, much less to confine him and he finds the whole ordeal insulting, notwithstanding his actual involvement in the old villain's demise.

"I feel like I should apologize on behalf of my nation." Vallon smiles.

"Apology accepted. Let's just round up Xin's remaining disciples and deal with them shall we?" Bokkusu stands and holds out his sake cup for a toast. "To the Fire Nation."

After a half an hour they are still giving toasts.

"To Dirt Land." Toph jokes and knocks back the rice wine like a pro.

"To the Fire Lord." Chin fills their cups and motions for them to drink.

"To getting drunk while going over important intelligence reports." Vallon pours the next round.

"I'm not drunk." Bokkusu scowls menacingly before his lips twitch into a smile and he laughs.

"Well I am and I'm blind. I demand that someone handsome take me to my cabin." Toph says imperiously.

"Bokkusu, would you mind?" Vallon says and then dodges the blow he knows is coming.

"I'll do it." Chin takes Toph's hand and places it in his crooked elbow.

"Like hell…" Vallon grouches, extricating his betrothed from the commander's arm.

Toph sways from Chin's side to Vallon's and actually giggles.

"You irresponsible bunch of inebriates are more likely to kill me than get me safely to my room." She laughs as she holds Vallon with one hand and the table with the other.

"Actually, I've been feeding you three sake. I haven't had a drop." Chin admits. "I have a ship to steer. I'd rather see the Fire Nation in the morning than suddenly realize I've taken a wrong turn and wound up back in the Earth Kingdom."

"Dirt Land." Bokkusu mutters as he leaves the bridge.

"That was underhanded Chin." Toph points in the commander's direction. "I have new respect for you."

Vallon guides his inebriated fiancé toward the stairs hoping he doesn't injure them both in the process. He used to be able to hold his sake and a half hour of toasts would never have made him this drunk in the old days. As he unsteadily guides her down the stairs he grins at his recent years of clean living.

It _was_ a dirty trick, Chin thinks once they've gone, but they were all so keyed up with the message of Xin's followers setting up near the capitol he felt some drunken camaraderie was in order. They truly can't do anything here in the middle of the ocean, and no good would come from them worrying the issue for hours and hours.

Even as he'd tried to lighten the mood however, he felt the chill of danger. It's been so long that they've enjoyed a rough paradigm of peace that he's resistant to begin fighting again. And to engage such a shadow enemy seems nearly impossible. It resembles the insurgency and he can't imagine beginning _that_ horror anew.

That the threat seems to be focused on Katara is more disturbing than anything. It shows a complete lack of basic human decency to threaten a man's wife, to threaten healers as a whole for their craft.

As he looks out at the crystal stars shining back at him on the glassy surface of the dark sea he remembers his own losses and wonders hopelessly what a navy man can do to help in this situation. He can keep the harbors safe for those who have to face the enemy, but he isn't a land warrior. He isn't a security agent. As experienced as he is in battle, this kind of conflict isn't his forte. He's afraid he'll have to sit back and watch while his comrades take on yet another conspiracy of Xin's making.

With all his friends' training will they be ready to engage this type of ruthless enemy?

It's been five years.

Just long enough for the people of the Fire Nation to demand maintenance of their false illusion of peace in the face of ever mounting danger.

Can the Fire Lord keep the people happy and prosperous while engaging an enemy that lives among them?

Chin pours himself a half-cup of sake and sips it gingerly. Things are changing all around him. Friends getting married. Older associates dying off. And yet he remains the same.

"Commander," His helmsman breaks into his thoughts. "Should I maintain full speed or should I pull back for the night?"

"Full speed, Tama." Chin responds. "We want to get home."

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**A/N:** I received a roundabout message that some would post a review but are blocked because I have a restriction against non-FFN members. I've lifted the restriction for now and if you'd like to drop me a line, you'll be able to regardless of whether you have an FFN account or not. Please don't flame if you do. Sweetness is always much more effective. ;-)

I've been neglecting this fic because I was working on a Blue Spirit/Painted Lady story that is now complete called Mask and Veil. If you haven't read it and are looking for something that fits into the current season's timeframe, please check it out.

Thanks for reading.

MacFie xoxo


	10. Tempest

Tempest

"Tinn," Ahni smiles at the boy sitting across the table from her as he finishes his second helping of breakfast. After her own breakfast with her family she came to Yukio's rooms to sit with their new arrivals while they had their own meal. She hates to bring up anything upsetting but she must. If left to fester it will continue to grow. "The Fire Lord wishes to meet with you."

Despite the healer's soothing tone the boy's body starts to visibly tremble and his eyes go wide as he mutely shakes his head.

"It's alright." Ahni continues. "You met his wife yesterday, remember? She promised you no harm would come to you.

He nods and shoots a panicked look at his little sister as she engages all her attentions on a fruit tart, seemingly oblivious to their conversation.

"I'll stay with you while you speak with him." Ahni promises. "I give you my word that he will not hurt you in any way."

The boy stares miserably at his empty plate. His shoulders slumped he looks defeated, as if he's accepted his tragic fate.

"Not Kim. Only me." He says softly.

"I suppose that will be fine." She responds agreeably.

"If anything happens to me, will you get her out of here? Take her someplace safe?" He asks worriedly.

Ahni fixes him with a mother's stern look, surprising the boy after he's received nothing thus far but kind patience from the healer.

"Tinn, I've known the Fire Lord for years. He is not a wicked or cruel man. He would never hurt you. Or Kim. And I have told you that a number of times. It is rude to continually disbelieve someone when you have no reason whatsoever to doubt their honesty." She lectures. "But if something _does_ happen to you by some other means -- because there will be no injury to you at the hands of Fire Lord Zuko I can guarantee you that -- I promise I will see to it that Kim is safe."

Although somewhat chastened by her tone and words, the boy doesn't apologize. He merely nods and pushes his plate away.

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"Why are we slowing down?" Bokkusu grumbles the question to Chin.

"A Water Tribe vessel in distress." The commander responds noting his friend's furrowed brow. The headache that thrives in the aftermath of sake overindulgence can always be seen most clearly on the sufferer's forehead. The pain seems to gather right in the front of the face and…

Chin stops himself thinking about it. Nobody likes to relive their hangovers.

The commander is as frustrated as Bokkusu. They're all anxious to be home. The extra time they spent in the Earth Kingdom while Bokkusu was confined to his room at a village inn had been irritating to say the least. Not fans of the country to begin with, the commander and crew of the Fire Nation ship were glad to wave goodbye to the shores of 'Dirt Land.'

As they pull alongside the two-mast Water Tribe schooner, Chin remembers to be thankful for the fact that he's coming to the aid of his erstwhile enemy rather than planning to imprison the crew and confiscate the ship. He just hopes they're easily assisted and he can get back on track in a minimum of time.

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The decision was made earlier to bring Tinn to Zuko's study to meet with the Fire Lord as the room has much warmer ambiance than any of the other options.

As Ahni and Tinn situate themselves on cushions before a tea service, Zuko, already seated, watches calmly. It's been a long time since the Fire Lord found himself in a position to care whether or not someone likes him and he's not sure what to do with his face. A fake smile might be more off-putting and frightening to the boy than a simple, blank look. But then no expression might give the impression of Zuko trying to hide nefarious plans.

Tamping down instinctual annoyance at the situation he watches the boy clutch Ahni's skirt for support. Tinn stares down at the teacups, his breathing obviously short and nervous. It's an exasperating situation for both adults and they share a feeling that whoever terrorized this child so should be at the very least publicly shamed.

"Good morning, Fire Lord Zuko." Ahni begins cheerfully.

"Good morning." Zuko responds.

"Tinn, this is Fire Lord Zuko. Will you say hello?" She squeezes the boy's hand.

"Hello." He murmurs, never raising his eyes.

"I'm certain the tea pot appreciates your greeting, but the Fire Lord is still waiting." She smiles but her voice is firm.

Tinn raises his eyes and finds himself face-to-face with his worst nightmare. Tears immediately sting his eyes even as he determinedly mouths a salutation. Clearing his constricted throat he tries again and both adults can finally hear a whispered "hello".

"Would you like tea?" Zuko asks the boy gently.

Tinn shakes his head.

"No thank you." The boy quickly responds to Ahni's prompting pressure on his hand.

"Ahni?" Zuko asks.

"Yes, thank you." She says, smiling sympathetically at her brother-in-law.

A servant appears to pour for them and a sweet bun appears before the boy as well as a small cup of honey sweetened pomegranate juice. It's a treat adored by Sokka and Ahni's three-year-olds and she nods her approval to Zuko for his attention to detail.

Confused Tinn looks up at the woman beside him, wondering when the ax will fall. This is nothing like what he was led to believe would happen should he wind up in the Fire Lord's clutches. Taking tea and enjoying sweets with the monster was never part of the stories.

"I've heard you're very brave, Tinn." Zuko sips his tea casually. "I've heard you're very good at taking care of your little sister. That's commendable."

"I'm not _that_ good at it." Tinn squirms. "She almost died."

"But she didn't. How did the two of you come to be on the beach with no adults to take care of you?" He asks conversationally.

"We don't need any adults to take care of us." Tinn bristles as much as his continued fear will let him.

"Ah." Zuko nods. "I guess we grown-ups do tend to think a lot of our ability to protect those younger than we are. I have to remind myself that it was a twelve-year-old child who saved the world not that long ago."

"I wasn't born then." Tinn takes a tentative sip of the juice and then a bigger one as the sweet and tart flavor explodes in his mouth.

"No, I suppose not." Zuko says. "I was a teenager at the time. It was pretty scary for a while there."

The boy nibbles the edge of the sweet roll and nods in response. It's comforting to hear that the Fire Lord had been scared at one time. Not so comforting that Tinn is ready to drop his guard, but it's good to hear nonetheless.

"You and Kim are welcome here." Zuko tells the boy. "We'll have some clothes brought in for you so you won't have to wear Yukio's old tunics anymore."

After that neither adult speaks to the boy. They chat with one another about Ahni's children and the weather and the annual Fire Festival on the waterfront just a few months away. Tinn listens carefully but they just sound like grown-ups having a friendly conversation. He devours his bun and finds another one placed promptly on the empty plate and his empty cup refilled with the sweet juice.

And before he knows it the meeting is at an end. Tinn and Ahni rise, bow to he Fire Lord and leave the room.

There had been no further questions about how he and Kim had ended up where they'd been found. There had been no interrogation as Tinn had expected.

Confused he looks up at Ahni who smiles briefly down at him before taking his hand and walking with him back to the suite where Kim is playing with some hastily gathered toys from the palace nursery.

"We're having a picnic outside today with my children and the princess and a few of our friends. You and Kim are invited to join us." Ahni informs him.

"Okay." He says wondering why everything is so different from his expectations. "Can we have some of that juice? Kim would really like it."

"Of course. You can't have a picnic without juice. My eldest boys would pack up and leave me if I even tried it." She chuckles squeezing the boy's hand affectionately.

Tinn tentatively smiles at her but his young brow still furrows. He's been tense and frightened for so long, there's no way he's going to accept their kindness as anything other than deceit.

He knows better than to trust the Fire Lord. The stories have taught him that.

---------------------------------------------------------------

"Will you be able to get away for the picnic?" Katara asks Zuko later as they leave the conference room together after a dry meeting regarding road maintenance.

"I have lunch with the fleet commanders." Zuko rubs the kinks out of the back of his neck. "You'll be shirking duties for both of us."

"I'm not shirking!" She protests, realizing her demand to be involved in everything has completely flown out the window. Had she just been bored? Perhaps it had been the emotional effects of pregnancy that had made her so demanding.

No, it was his remoteness that had alarmed her. And his unwillingness to share the more difficult aspects of his position. She reminds herself that as long as she makes every effort to attend all the security meetings she'll have achieved her goal of supporting him through the most trying decisions he'll have to make.

"I might come out for a short time after lunch just to show Tinn I'm not the demon he thinks I am." Zuko smiles ruefully.

"Whoever frightened that boy so much should be…" She can't think of a suitable punishment so she just lets out an exasperated growl.

"I agree." He chuckles.

"Is Chin going to be at the lunch?" Katara asks. If their friend has returned then that means Toph, Vallon and Bokkusu will be home as well.

"I don't think so. They'll be back today or tomorrow though."

"What about Aang and Ty Lee? Have you seen them? I wanted them to come to the picnic, but they weren't in Ty Lee's room this morning."

"They left early. Right after sparring. Did you know Ty Lee paralyzed me for ten full minutes? She hasn't done that in years. Married life is making her addle headed."

"Where did they go?" Katara asks. How strange that they would visit for less than twenty-four hours.

"Chikai. I told them what a nice town it is and they wanted to stay at the inn for a short honeymoon. Aang wants to be back by the end of the week so they can announce their marriage once Toph and Vallon have returned. You and I are the only ones who know so far."

"Oh for crying out loud!" Katara exclaims heatedly. "Just tell people already. Now we have to keep a secret and you're the worst liar in the universe so how are we supposed to do that? It's way too stressful."

"You're still mad at him for leaving you out aren't you?" Zuko smiles patiently.

"Yes." She readily admits. "And now he's taken off and not said 'good-bye.' He's really starting to get obnoxious." She knows she's being unreasonable, but it's a part of her nature that needs exercise every once in a while, she feels.

"I have an idea that might make you feel better about all of this. Would you like to hear it?" Zuko asks.

"Most of your ideas are lascivious but go ahead." She smirks.

"Why don't you plan an entertainment – short notice so not very big – to celebrate with them when they return. They can make their announcement then as a surprise."

"That's a great idea!" She squeals throwing her arms around his neck, which isn't as easy as it used to be with her growing mid-section bumping awkwardly between them.

"And you can invite Cho Sung's daughter since he wants her to meet Yukio and we can get that out of the way as well." Zuko slips in.

"Hmm. I'm suspecting a dual purpose for this celebration." Katara says suspiciously.

"Not really. It just occurred to me that it would be a good chance to dispense with that little bit of business. And since Aang and Ty Lee will be making their announcement at the party and taking all the attention perhaps the illustrious Cho Sung brothers won't notice the transfer of their sister from Yukio to Taoki."

"Any other purposes?"

"I want to cozy up to the Cho Sungs for a little while." He shrugs to conceal a shudder. He hates that clan and does not look forward to including them in the gatherings of his inner circle.

"Ew. Do we have to invite them to _everything_?" She asks as if she's read his mind.

"Just for a little while. I didn't like Cho Sung's threat to Taoki and the more I think about it the more it bothers me. With this Xin cult setting up near us, I want to know where my most powerful barons' sympathies lie. I'll try to keep the social engagements to a minimum." He promises as much to himself as to her.

"Yuk." She exaggerates a shiver and then kisses him quickly. "Come to the picnic if you can. If Chin's back, bring him too."

"Okay."

"And don't say a thing about Aang and Ty Lee," She's suddenly done a complete turn around in her feelings about the avatar's marriage. "You know you're the worst at deception so try to keep it cool."

"I'll do my best." He watches her walk down the corridor toward the family wing.

Once she's disappeared around the corner he heads for Minister Kuo's office.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Tinn watches sullenly as Kim runs around the sunny courtyard with the Water Tribe couple's twin boys. They're playing tag and she's actually holding her own. He would smile at her enjoyment, but he knows they're going to have to leave this place and he hates for her to miss the luxury of other children to play with, cleanliness, good food, and caring adults.

The captain, Sokka, sits down beside him and tries to make conversation. Tinn's responses remain monosyllabic but that doesn't slow the man down. It doesn't take long before he stops trying to chat with the boy at all, but rather regales him with tales of his hunting exploits. Tinn's firm resolve not to enjoy himself is sorely tested as Sokka manages to elicit several smiles and one surprised laugh from the boy.

Before Tinn can get his bearings and shore up his armor, the captain jumps up to rescue one of the toddlers from a wall the child managed to climb. Tinn watches the man carefully approach the boy and pluck him from the top of the wall holding him tightly to his chest afterward and scolding the child gently. As he carries the boy to the nice Water Tribe lady, his wife, he flips his son upside down and carries him part of the way by his ankles. The boy wriggles and squeals with delight.

He watches the strange looking white boys play with the youngest Water Tribe twins. Still unsteady at walking the nearly two-year-old boys toddle around a makeshift obstacle course as the pale teenagers corral them each time they start to wander. The tiny boys are screaming with enjoyment as the young men continually move the obstacles back into their paths.

Kim is now sitting under a tree with the princess who combs the little girl's hair and braids it, threading a rope of pale pink beads through the dark locks. His sister is fully engrossed in a puppet made of a battered stocking that the prince has pulled onto his hand. It seems so strange to watch a member of the royal family lying on his side on the grass, propped on one elbow and making a silly voice just to make a little girl laugh, but it's happening before his very eyes.

To his great discomfort he sees the Fire Lord enter the courtyard and go to his wife, stooping to kiss her cheek. He is introduced to Kim and bows politely to her, making the little girl giggle.

This wasn't how it was supposed to be.

Tinn wants to leave as quickly as possible. The stories were correct about one thing. The Fire Lord's world is seductive and one must resist its pull at all costs in order to survive.

--------------------------------------------------------------

"Bokkusu's back tomorrow. They had to rescue a Water Tribe ship with a whole crew sick from food poisoning." Yukio tells the twins as they meander down the corridor after supper. "Hopefully that means we can stop going to all of Minister Kuo's meetings."

"The man _does_ like to meet, doesn't he?" Taoki smiles.

"I guess there's reason these days." The prince shrugs. "I probably wouldn't mind if he didn't scare the heck out of me."

"How does he know every time someone's mind wanders?" Kenya asks, befuddled. "Every single time I start thinking about something else, he asks me a question. It's like being in school only ten times worse because he's huge and he stands over you a mile tall and his regular speaking voice is so low and gruff it makes your liver vibrate."

Yukio and Taoki laugh at Kenya's outburst.

Suddenly an alarm whistle rends the air. They hear it again in a series of short and long bursts that tell them which part of the palace is experiencing a breach. It's the north servant's entrance and they're close. They take off in their fastest run.

----------------------------------------------------------------

The hall is a confusion of arms and legs. Yukio, Taoki and Kenya round the corner in time to see three palace guards grab hold of a single combatant, a girl, and then lose her as she contorts her body sharply, pulling them off-balance. She runs up the wall to her left and tries to pass the trio of teenagers, but Taoki swiftly drops back and obstructs her progress head-on. She avoids a collision with him by leaping from the wall, touching the floor with both feet and springing to the opposite wall where she takes a few quick steps before Taoki again appears in front of her.

Kenya and Yukio split and trap her against the wall with Taoki in a triangle formation as she lands on the floor, her legs deeply bent in preparation for another leap.

"Don't move!" Yukio barks the command and she responds by running straight toward him then spinning out and away to wind up on the other side almost before he can realize she's come near.

The palace guards have recovered their wits and they race in the girl's direction. She runs along the wall over their heads, but once again the three teenagers block her from making an exit.

She kicks a guard in the head as she comes down knocking him out and three other guards appear around the corner to offer assistance. They rush her and once again she avoids them only to be met by her three nemeses once again.

Hissing in frustration, she twists around Kenya but finds herself face-to-face with the prince and so she makes another run at the guards.

Now there are five palace guards and three young security agents against one teenaged girl. But the fight isn't over yet.

The guards grab her arms, two on each one and she takes one man out with a back kick to the shin. She follows that move with what looks like a total collapse to the ground pulling the men down with her and knocking heads together to leave them dizzy. The one guard remaining quickly scrambles over her and lays his full, considerable weight on top of her.

The other guards regain their composure and pull her up from the ground, holding her arms tightly, one of them hugging her legs for all he's worth.

Winded, she finally stops struggling, but the guards not only don't loosen their hold, they tighten it. With her wild mane of waist-length charcoal hair and her encumbered arms spread out from her lithe, athletic body she looks like an enchanted changeling raised in the wilderness, and as the prince and his friends eye her with interest her ebony-lashed amber eyes flash intense fury at the three young men who successfully thwarted her efforts.

"Oof." Kenya exhales appreciatively.

"Tell me about it." Yukio murmurs in agreement.


	11. Spiral

Spiral

The uproar at the palace has been contained. The interloper has been taken to the prison tower to be incarcerated and to await questioning. The few who were involved in the skirmish have met with the Fire Lord and Minister Kuo to report, describe and discuss the incident. If events surrounding this night's invasion had not been so tense, it might have been written off as just a random crazy trying to gain access to the Fire Lord. This however is not the time for dismissing forced entry into the building that houses the royal family.

The meeting ends on a tense note, with the Fire Lord thanking his guards for their diligence and complimenting Yukio, Taoki and Kenya on their quick thinking. As all file out the door Zuko motions for Minister Kuo to stay. The door closes behind Yukio and he stops, looking worriedly at the ground as if it might have some answers for him.

--------------------------------------------------------------

"So you were Sokka's first mate?" Commander Chin asks the captain of the Water Tribe ship as they share a pot of tea on the bridge. The majority of the schooner's crew has been stricken with severe food poisoning and it has been decided that the Fire Nation's larger ship will tow the Water Tribe vessel to the Fire Harbor while its crew are being treated in sickbay. It's a deviation from the schooner's route, but the choice was either to take an unplanned stop or sit like a cripple in the middle of the ocean for however long it takes for the crew to get back on their feet.

"I was. For three years. I got my own ship around the time of the Fire Lord's coronation." Sokka's erstwhile first mate, Kiani replies.

"I can't imagine working for someone like him. He seems … disordered."

"Actually, he's pretty uptight under the sloppy veneer. The Yue ran like a top. When we only hauled cargo we were always in port early and intact. When we patrolled for the Unified Council we were often first to the scene when there was a distress message."

"If he heard you talking like this he wouldn't get his head through the door." Chin laughs pouring more tea.

"He was a good captain to learn from. If I'm half as proficient, my crew is very happy." Kiani says loyally, nodding his thanks for the refill and taking a sip. "Well they're not happy at the moment. But in general." He adds with a grin.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Much later the prince crosses the threshold of the cellblock where the wild intruder is being held. He's thought of little else since the frenzied encounter this evening and the edgy meeting following. Why would this teenaged girl breach palace security in the first place? She certainly wasn't one of the many girls who try to make their presence known to the prince and the White Spirits. During the entire confrontation he was certain she had no idea who he was let alone any interest in pursuing him romantically.

Not that he and the twins are the only reasons to invade the palace, but if teenaged girls are involved in a security problem it usually does have something to do with the trio.

He and his friends had talked about the confrontation at length after the meeting and he had expressed an interest in checking up on her.

"Man, Yukio. Don't you have enough girls to keep you busy?" Kenya had asked him with a smirk.

"I don't want to talk to her for that!" Yukio had huffed, offended. "I just want to … I don't know. She was…"

"Extraordinary?" Taoki had offered distractedly as he looked up from the book he was reading.

"Don't tell me you want her too." Kenya laughed.

"No. The girl I'm interested in is likely to get me killed indirectly." Taoki explained. "She's not likely to do the killing herself. I prefer it that way." And he went back to his book.

"I'm not interested in her as in _interested_ in her!" Yukio had insisted to his friends' endless amusement. "If she's from the cult then …"

"If she's from the cult then I'm joining." Kenya joked, prompting Yukio to end the conversation then and there.

So now he finds himself going completely against procedure to get a second look.

As he nears her cell he is surprised to hear the unmistakable sound of weeping. Now he's really confused. A rabid fighter doesn't usually succumb to tears where his or her enemy might hear. She's showing her vulnerability with her emotion and he has to consider it might be a trick to gain sympathy.

The door between them, he listens carefully to the soft noises coming from the cell.

"I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Are the weak mutterings he overhears.

He stands there for a minute, listening to her apologetic mantra and finally surreptitiously peeks in the barred window.

She's sitting on the floor, although there is a thin futon beside her. She leans back against the wall, eyes closed, an expression of helpless despair on her face as she continues to speak to the air. He tries to quell a stab of pity by reminding himself that it took eight trained fighters to stop her illegal entry to the palace.

"Who are you apologizing to?" He hears himself say and curses his soft heart. He hadn't intended to speak to her.

Before his self-recrimination can be completed however, the girl leaps to her feet, flies at the bars and reaches through to grab at him. He flinches back and grabs her arm before she can pull it back, holding her in that position for a moment before he pulls her slowly toward him, until she is flat against the door and unable to get leverage to wrench away. His grip is gentle, but firm and she isn't likely to be able to extricate herself from his hold.

"Let go of me!" She hisses.

"Why? So you can rip my throat out of my neck? No thanks." He replies.

"You're very brave with this door between us." She spits.

"No. I'm very brave with your arm and therefore your body under my complete control." He smirks.

She growls at his comment.

"What's your name?" He asks.

In response she growls some more and glares at him furiously.

"Why did you come here?" He continues his questioning.

Again, he receives no verbal response.

"Did you come here to kill the princess?" He asks her.

"What? No!" She responds angrily, surprising him. Why would _that_ question suddenly elicit a reply? He wonders.

She tries to pull her arm away from him, pushing hard against the door, but he's got it angled down from the window and all she ends up doing is hurting herself. She screams in a primal fashion, stomps her feet and pulls with all her might. Yukio considers letting her go before she rips her arm right out of the socket, but then she tries to push her other hand through the bars in an attempt to get at him, an impossible feat, and he decides she's too crazy to be free in his presence.

"If you keep acting like a wild animal we'll keep treating you like one and you will never get any closer to what you came for than you are right now." Yukio tells her, his voice firm and deadly serious.

She abruptly stops fighting him. It takes a moment but eventually her arm in his grasp goes completely limp.

"If you agree to step all the way to the back of the cell I'll let go of your arm." He promises.

She sullenly nods her agreement.

Yukio releases her arm and tenses for the attack he suspects may come. She dutifully shuffles to the back of the cell however, just as she agreed to do, rubbing her stretched shoulder dejectedly. Once there, she leans her back against the wall and slides wearily down to the floor.

"What's your name?" He asks her.

There is a long moment of silence as she wraps her arms around her legs and bends her waist so that her face rests on her knees.

Yukio decides he's pushed her far enough. That little battle between them at the door ruined any chance he had of gaining her trust. She's not going to tell him anything that will help him help her. He turns to leave.

"Lily." She croaks.

"What?" He asks.

"Lily." She repeats with more volume. "My name is Lily."

Yukio can't help but bark out a laugh.

"What's so funny?" She asks curtly.

"Lily. I would never have guessed that in a million years. It's so … sweet." He chuckles.

"I didn't choose it." She grumbles.

"Who did?"

"Nobody. Leave me alone." She turns her face away from him and shuts him completely out.

"Did you come here to kill the princess?" Yukio asks again.

"No! Stop asking me that! I already said no!" She snaps at him, her voice rising to a shout.

"Temper." Yukio scolds softly.

"Go to hell!" She explodes.

Yukio doesn't respond to that. He watches her for a bit longer, perplexed and agitated.

"Are you a follower of Xin?" He asks her.

Her head snaps up and he sees something in her eyes; fear?

"No." It comes out in a whisper.

"I'm just trying to protect the people I love." Yukio says quietly and she stills, listening intently. "If that makes me your enemy then so be it. But if it doesn't then maybe I can help you."

"Nobody can help me." She rasps.

"You'd be surprised what a prince can achieve once he sets his mind to it." He smiles.

She looks up at him again, her eyes narrowed. It appears as if she's about to say something and then she shakes her head disgustedly before resting her forehead back on her knees.

Yukio stays for a long time but she never raises her head again. He would think she's asleep except for the white knuckled hands embracing her legs. She's awake and she's as tense as the trigger rope on a loaded trebuchet.

He'll come back again he decides, pleased with his efforts. With any luck he'll have her mystery solved by the end of the week he thinks as he saunters confidently out of the cellblock.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What were you thinking?!" Zuko barks at his cousin who sits dejectedly in front of him the following morning.

"I just wanted…"

"Don't give me excuses!" The Fire Lord shouts furiously. "You've jeopardized the entire investigation!"

"I only meant to get a look…"

"You don't see enough pretty girls when they're hanging all over you every time you go out in public?"

Yukio would smile at the similarity of Kenya's words to the Fire Lord's, but he's fairly certain it would not be a well-received facial expression at this point.

"I didn't go because she's pretty. I went because I was…"

"Arrogant? Spoiled? Childish?" Zuko grits out a list and Yukio stares at him as if he's been punched in the stomach. His cousin has never said such insulting things to him.

The prince looks over at Minister Kuo who sits stoically beside him. The older man doesn't say a word in Yukio's defense and the teenager is filled with indignation.

"I found out her name!" The prince defends himself.

"Lily. She couldn't possibly be lying could she? Of course not. She said it was Lily. She's pretty. So it must be true." Zuko snarls mockingly, unimpressed.

"I found out she knows something about Xin." Feeling the argument slip away from him, Yukio clings to one shred of accomplishment.

"Yes, thanks to your impromptu interrogation, we know she knows something about Xin. Not _what_ she knows though. Just something. And now _she_ knows that _we_ know something about Xin. Whose revelation was more damaging to whom do you think?" The Fire Lord gives no quarter.

Yukio looks at the floor. He hadn't even meant to speak to the girl. He just wanted to look at her. He's never seen anyone so fierce and desperate and he'd wanted to convince himself that she was actually what she appeared to be under all that fury: a pretty teenaged girl who, under different circumstances, could have been any one of the many who frequented palace events.

The standard operating procedure would have had her left alone. Fed, but not afforded communication until she asked to speak to someone. Regardless of that protocol, the overall agreement had been to hold off any interrogation until Bokkusu's imminent return.

Finally aware of his monumental screw-up, Yukio takes a deep breath and looks his cousin in the eye.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to talk to her." He says miserably.

"You're off the investigation." Zuko responds quietly.

"No!" Yukio protests.

"And the twins as well." This addressed to Minister Kuo who nods.

"Why Taoki and Kenya? They didn't have anything to do with it!" Yukio exclaims.

"They knew what you were doing and they didn't do anything to stop you. They didn't alert Minister Kuo to the possible violation of procedure." Zuko explains calmly.

He's right, Yukio realizes. Nobody else gets a second chance and he and his friends shouldn't either. Gritting his teeth he nods.

"You'll stay away from the prison complex. I don't want you going near her." It's obviously not up for debate.

"I won't." Yukio promises. It's a difficult vow to make. He feels he connected with her and she might be willing to talk to him, but now is not the time to bring up that particular possibility. Of course, he thinks ruefully, they've already thought of that and rejected the angle.

"You're dismissed Yukio." Zuko says flatly.

The prince stands and bows to the minister and then to his cousin before he leaves the room. Despite his realization that he had been completely wrong in his actions, the harsh tone of the official dressing-down leaves him feeling shaken and angry.

He's not been perfect in all these years. He and his friends have gotten in plenty of embarrassing and dangerous scrapes, but Zuko has never been so angry with him. He's never been deliberately cruel.

_Arrogant? Spoiled? Childish?_

The words continue to assault him as he strides quickly down the corridor toward the twins' suite. He wants to get to them first, before they're informed they'll be punished for his infraction. They'll accept his apology without reservation he knows, but that won't make him feel better.

And on top of it all, his brain keeps improvising ways to get back to the girl's cellblock without anyone knowing.

It's morning. He should be able to find someone to spar with.

A little pain and a lot of exertion might be just the thing to get this nonsense out of his system.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Was I unduly harsh?" Zuko asks Minister Kuo after Yukio has left the office.

"No, my lord." Is the obvious answer.

"Are you being honest of dutiful?"

"Honest my lord." The elder box man replies. "He was out-of-line. In other circumstances such impetuous behavior might get him and other team members killed. He needs to take these things more seriously."

"This reminds me of the insurgency." Zuko says rubbing his forehead where an ache is starting to throb.

"I've noticed the similarity." Minister Kuo agrees. "But they won't be able to gather the support that the original enjoyed. Nobody wants to go through that again."

"I certainly don't." The Fire Lord sits heavily in his chair and takes a deep breath before taking advantage of Kuo's presence to talk about the more unsavory aspects of the investigation and how to deal with their unexpected visitor.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

"It's okay Yukio." Taoki assures the prince.

"No, it's not. I was thoughtless. I shouldn't have told you what I intended to do." Yukio responds.

"So you're only sorry you got caught? You'd do it again, but cover your tracks better?" Kenya asks meaningfully.

"What are you saying?" The prince furrows his brow at his friend.

"Knowing that we would be punished I wouldn't have done it differently. I would never stop you from doing something unless it was something that might get you killed. I would also never snitch on you to Minister Kuo or anyone else." He explains.

"So there's no need to apologize because I think we all would have done it again even knowing what would happen." Taoki adds.

"Hmm. I suppose that should make me feel better, but it really doesn't. I hate that you're off the investigation too."

"Because you would have been drilling us for information after ever meeting?" Kenya smirks.

"Yes." Yukio admits with a grin. "That's not the only reason, but it's a big one."

Even as he smiles with them and enjoys their ready forgiveness and assurance, he makes a silent promise to leave them completely out of his further plans. He won't put their positions in jeopardy again.

But he _will_ go back and talk to the girl at least one more time. He has to make up for the mistakes he made in his last visit. Yukio is certain he'll be able to win her trust and convince her to share everything she knows.

He just has to figure out how to get in and out without his cousin or Minister Kuo discovering what he's up to.

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**A/N:** I know, I know. It looks like I'm introducing another OC with Kiani, but he was actually introduced in chapter 1 of Parts of a Whole. And anyway, he's not going to be around all that much, so don't worry about him. Don't forget about him just don't expect to see him that much. ;D

Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I've recently had an epiphany about this story and I'm getting very excited about it. Hopefully I can tangle and then untangle the plot webs enough to keep you interested!

MacFie xoxo

PS: For those who liked Mask and Veil, there's another 'BluePaint' fic out called "Come With Me" by Steamboat Ghost and Fuzzy Tomato (under Steamboat's penname). They've posted two chapters and it's already got me on the edge of my seat, so BluePaint fans should be sure to check it out. ;-)


	12. Gathering

**A/N:** Okay, I screwed up. I reintroduced Kiani from Parts of a Whole in the last chapter, but those who mentioned him in their reviews obviously were thinking of another OC with a similar job named Numu. I am officially changing the captain of the food poisoning-stricken Water Tribe ship to Numu. Forget Kiani. Wipe him from memory. He only appeared in chapter one of Parts and a couple of mentions later. I had a plan for him in Parts, but I changed my mind and let him fall away so I thought I'd resurrect him here. Now I see it's too confusing – even to me -- so let's just let him fall away altogether shall we? Numu it is.

Thanks!

---------------------------------------------------------------

**Gathering**

Zuko and Katara exit yet another meeting and turn down the hallway. He rests his hand lightly on her lower back as they quietly discuss the rest of the meetings planned for the day and which ones she'll attend. Her energy level wanes so significantly in the afternoon, her presence at the various trade meetings has become merely cosmetic.

Looking up Zuko sees four people approaching them and he smiles.

"Finally," He says as Chin, Bokkusu, Toph and Vallon come within greeting range. "I thought you'd stolen my ship and defected to the Earth Kingdom."

Bokkusu grumbles something incoherent but no doubt derisive about the nation that ranks highest on his list of things he most detests.

"Never, my lord." Chin smiles, bowing to Zuko and Katara. "We returned the moment we were able."

"Bokkusu's arrest held you up." The Fire Lord says casually.

"How did … " Bokkusu stops. He hates to admit they tried to keep something from their sovereign. That's not the kind of thing that will make the Fire Lord happy.

"King Bumi wrote me a letter of apology on the same day they confined you. I ranted and raved in a barely cordial response and strongly suggested he take care of it. I suppose he did because here you are." Zuko responds.

"I apologize for not informing you my lord." Chin says sincerely. "We assumed it was all for show so we didn't want to worry you."

"Next time," Zuko looks his old friend in the eye. "Worry me."

"Yes my lord." The commander replies.

"It's embarrassing to hear about my security team from another country's king." Zuko gives Chin a forgiving smile. "Since we're all here, why don't we take advantage of the opportunity for a meeting."

As tired as they are, Toph, Vallon, Chin and Bokkusu embrace the idea. Better to get these meetings out of the way sooner rather than later. While the information is still fresh.

"Fetch Minister Kuo." Zuko gives this command to one of his lurking attendants. "Tell him to come for an impromptu meeting in the conference room. And reschedule the meeting with the Minister of …" At a loss he looks at Katara.

"Outdoor sports." She informs as Zuko nods and turns back to his attendant.

"Him. And have them set up this room for another meeting immediately."

"Yes, my lord." The young man hurries away.

"Are Yukio and the twins around?" Bokkusu asks assuming they will also be called.

"They won't be joining us." Zuko says. "That's just one of the things we'll go over."

Bokkusu's face shows his concern as they turn back to the conference room.

"Katara, do you feel up to another meeting?" Zuko asks her, noting the sleepy look in her eyes.

"I'll try to stay awake." She grins heading through the door at the nudge of his hand on the small of her back. "Just try not to be boring." She adds with a smirk as she sits.

By the time Minister Kuo joins them, notes in hand, they are situated and several tea services have been laid.

The news of Yukio's foolishness does not go over well with Bokkusu. He is in full agreement that the prince and his friends should be taken from this particular investigation and he goes a step further wishing to bump them down to a training regimen they've had mastered for two years. Zuko gives his cousin the benefit of the doubt and declares the entire episode a mishap caused by over-exuberance.

Whether or not the box man agrees he nods. He'll speak to them later as their team leader and he looks forward to the opportunity to educate them on the dangers of sloppy conduct in security work. Obviously the seriousness of the situation has not been sufficiently impressed upon the teenagers. He just hopes no one has to actually get hurt for them to understand the gravity of matters at hand. For that reason, his lecture will be harshly serious and will not allow for debate or negotiation.

---------------------------------------------------------------

A celebratory supper is quickly planned and the new arrivals, including surprise guest Numu, along with the royal family and a couple of other guests gather in the family dining room. Not even the presence of the stone faced teenagers, seething with indignation at their second zealous dressing-down in as many days, can dampen the friendly spirits of the party. The trio attempts to stand apart sullenly from the rest of the group but Toph keeps finding them and coaxing them into smiles and even a laugh or two. The tale of the drunken security team especially helps to ease some of the tension.

Waiting for Sokka and Ahni to appear the small talk begins to grow thin. Katara is just about to tell everyone to sit down and begin the first course without them when a messenger comes to her with a rolled up slip of paper.

She doesn't even have to look at it but she does before handing it to her husband.

"It appears Sokka and Ahni won't be joining us, and I'll have to take my leave as well." She announces graciously. "Please enjoy the supper. I'll let you know when there's news."

"Make sure you eat tonight." Zuko murmurs to her as he walks her to the door.

"I'll have them send a tray. I'm sure Sokka's hungry." She promises. "You look scared all of a sudden."

"I am. This one seems like practice for ours. More than the others did." He admits.

"I'm nervous too. Wish us luck!" She gives him a quick kiss and moves as swiftly down the hall as her nearly seven months pregnant body can.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Zuko had pulled his cousin aside after supper. Yukio had smiled and nodded as the Fire Lord explained that, while he is always extremely proud of Yukio and the twins, he has to be very serious where this investigation is concerned. The prince had agreed then that he had been foolish and he ended the conversation with a warrior's handclasp; the tension relieved.

Yukio had appreciated the gesture and he didn't make his cousin suffer by arguing or making excuses. He had accepted the peace offered and considered himself fortunate to have it. He also had been lucky to get away from the conversation with the Fire Lord without making any promises.

He thinks about that as he prepares to defy the man he most admires.

Yukio walks into the cellblock and stops in front of the guard. He smiles charismatically at him and the guard bows low before the prince.

"Rise." Yukio says congenially. "I'm going to go talk to the prisoner. You won't tell anyone I was here will you?" The question is non-threatening, friendly, and the guard shakes his head quickly.

"No your highness." He responds sounding almost appalled at the thought.

"You can relax if you want." Yukio says noticing the man has maintained a stiff position of _attention_. "I won't let her escape. I'm only going to talk to her through the door. Have a seat." He gestures to the bench where the guard had been sitting until the prince's arrival.

"Yes your highness." The man replies and sits down immediately.

Yukio grins and enters the small corridor that leads to Lily's cell.

He's gained allies all over the palace by just being friendly. Even if it weren't a natural part of his personality, he would go out of his way to put people at ease. You never know when you're going to need a little extra help.

"Hello." He calls as he enters the room that holds the girl's cell.

When he's met with silence he peeks in the window of her metal door. Some of the cells in the prison tower are like cages where the prisoner can be seen from every angle. But this one is more contained, for a more dangerous prisoner. It affords more privacy, but it's also more isolating and stifling. Yukio understands why they put her in this high-security area, he just doesn't like it.

He sees her sitting against the wall staring into space. There's a full tray of food sitting not far from her, untouched.

"Hey. It's me." He grins. "Your favorite prince."

She glances over at him but doesn't speak.

"You need to eat." He tells her. "I'm going to talk to you."

She fixes him with narrowed eyes.

"I have nothing to say to you." She hisses.

"I didn't ask you to say anything to me. _I'm_ going to talk to _you_ and you're going to listen. And eat. You're going to finish that whole tray while I talk." He says sitting down on the floor outside the cell, his back against the door.

There is no response from within the cell but he didn't expect there to be.

"I was born in a tiny, remote village called Ikeni." He begins. "My mother was a peasant and my father was a prince."

He listens briefly for the sound of the tray being disturbed. Hearing nothing, he continues.

"My father died before I was born and my mother died a few years later. My grandparents raised me and I never knew of my royal blood until I was nine and an old man came to visit us. It turned out he was Fire Lord Iroh disguised as a traveler. When the insurgency was over and peace was declared, he came and told me about his son, my father. Are you eating?"

"No." She says sulkily.

"If you don't eat I'm going to go into minute detail about every little thing that's ever happened in my life starting with learning to milk a cow-turkey and moving on to how I learned to field dress a porcu-bear. Are you eating?"

"Mmmff." She responds, her mouth obviously full of food.

"Good. You'll need your strength for the rest of my story. Now, where was I, oh yes, Fire Lord Iroh…"

"Wait!" She stops him after a big swallow. "How did you learn to field dress a porcu-bear?"

"Very carefully."

It's a stupid joke but when he hears a sudden muffled chuckle from within the cell he beams with pride and encouragement.

"Alright, Fire Lord Iroh, or Papa Iroh as I used to call him, started coming to visit for a few days every couple of months and he started me off on my fire bending training. I'm afraid I wasn't very good at it because I would rather have done just about anything than practice bending at the time, but he was very patient and encouraging. Are you eating?"

"Mmm hm." She mumbles through the food.

"Papa Iroh never got to tell anyone about me because my grandmother was very afraid of what might happen if anyone knew the Fire Lord's true bloodline contained an heir. Papa Iroh went along with her wishes and never even told my cousin, but he documented everything and left it all to be delivered to Zuko two weeks after his death. And Zuko came to Ikeni and acknowledged me as his cousin."

Yukio's mind is flooded with memories now. His abduction by Long Feng and his Dai Li agents. Vallon. The rescue. Meeting Taoki and Kenya and training with them on the ship. The near-assassination of his cousin and the subsequent dreadful week as "acting Fire Lord." So much happened in those first weeks and then so much more in the years following. He feels a stab of shame at the deception he now perpetrates against those he loves, but reminds himself that the prize might be worth the messiness of his approach.

"What happened then?" She asks quietly.

He proceeds to tell her about his experiences with his newfound family. He can hear her finishing her meal, although she asks no more questions and he elicits no more laughs.

He talks to her for most of an hour and then he stands to leave. He looks in the small window to see her curled up on her side on the futon, again staring into space.

"Lily?"

She doesn't acknowledge him. The tray is empty on the floor near her feet. She doesn't appear to be in physical pain so he knows the prison food didn't poison her.

"Are you okay?" He asks softly.

She turns her gaze to him and he's surprised to see the candle light shimmer off of two thin tracks of tears. He hadn't heard any weeping as he had the last time he'd come here.

"Why are you crying?"

"Do you have to come here? Because if you don't have to I wish you wouldn't." She asks, her expression stricken.

Yukio is taken aback, his feelings hurt. She may be the first girl who doesn't want to have anything to do with him. He's never expected to be rejected by anyone for the simple fact that it's never happened before, and he finds that it's surprisingly painful.

"No, I don't have to come here." He finally responds to her question.

"I won't be tricked by you or anyone else." She says evenly wiping her face with the back of her hand. "You try to make it sound like your family is so loving and fun and that you're just like any normal kid, but you're not. You're royalty. You could have me moved to a dungeon cell with rats and refuse in two seconds. You could have me executed for what I'm saying to you right now and don't think I'm going to forget that."

"I couldn't have you executed." He says dryly, masking his irritation. "I'm not even supposed to be here, so if I tried to have you killed for your insolence, I'd get myself in a ridiculous amount of trouble too."

"Only royalty uses the word 'insolence'." She grumbles and he smiles at that. She's right.

"I'll come back again." He tells her determined now to change her mind about him. "I still have three more years of my life to bring you up to date on. You'll find I don't give up so easily." He grins disarmingly and walks away before she can say something else to puncture his confident bubble.

Inside the cell Lily pulls herself into an even tighter ball and wills herself to want nothing. To expect nothing, to trust nothing and to arrange her thoughts in an orderly fashion so that she might have a chance to escape and fulfill her mission before it's too late.

Her betraying imagination keeps returning to the prince and his entertaining stories. She realizes she's going to have to be nicer to him if she's to have any hope of his being able to help her and that thought fills her with discomfort. She's never been a social person and chatting has certainly not been a strong suit.

But congeniality can be pretended. And if she allows a connection to form he may actually be able to do as he claims and help her. She is not the least bit unaware that being friendly with the charming prince is a dangerous prospect. She could easily fall into a trap of trusting him and that would never do. Lily determines to visualize him only as a means to achieve her goals. As muddled, raw and hurt as she is she knows it will be difficult but she has no choice and remembering that gives her the armor she needs to guard and control her feelings.

She drifts off to sleep wondering when he might come back and trying to force her traitorous emotions not to look forward to it.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

"Just one more push." Katara gently tells her sister-in-law.

Ahni's face tenses in concentration and she makes barely a sound as she bears down in the warm-water birthing tub, a traditional Water Tribe method of delivery.

Katara reaches into the water and pulls out a squirming little creature, wet and shiny and red. The nurse steps forward quickly to snip the cord and wrap the baby in a towel. She gives it a good scrubbing to stimulate its circulation and it lets out an irate yowl in response. As the woman swaddles the baby in a soft blanket and hands it toward its father she is stranded in that pose as he barely notices. His eyes are looking down expectantly into the tub.

Nothing happens.

He's certain there's at least one more coming. That's how it is with them. There's never just one.

Nothing happens.

"Are you finished?" He asks Ahni, a slight twinge of disbelief in his voice.

"I'm pretty sure I am." She says cheerfully as a maid towel dries her hair and rubs her aching shoulders with soothing, scented oil.

"Huh." He says still looking down into the tub.

He finally notices the nurse with the bundled, wriggling baby trying to hand the thing to him and he expertly gathers the tiny form to his chest.

"You're disappointed?" Katara asks him.

"No, I'm just used to more than this. Seems like there ought to be another one." He shrugs looking at the angelic face now screwing itself into pre-cry mode.

Ahni is helped out of the bath by the nurse and wrapped in a warmed towel before being dressed in a lovely, silk nightgown.

"It's a girl." Katara informs them and Sokka's face slowly dawns into an all-encompassing smile.

"A girl." He breathes, wishing he could think of a sarcastic remark to make about females before the unmanly teardrops start to roll down his masculine warrior cheeks.

"Finally." Ahni sits back on the chaise and holds her arms out for the baby.

Sokka brings the wiggly bundle to his wife and sets it gently in her arms.

"I thought we'd name her Tatia." He says clearing his throat and staring nearly stupefied at the tiny girl.

Ahni succumbs to her own waterworks and tears drip liberally from her chin as she nods her agreement with his suggestion.

Katara watches her brother with a strong sense of admiration and love, her own eyes blurring with emotion. They all know of Tatia, Ahni's sister who was brutally assaulted and murdered by the same pirates that captured Sokka months later.

Trust Sokka to think of the perfect remembrance for a woman he never met but who remains crucially important to his beloved wife.

"How is everybody?" Katara starts as Zuko appears by her side.

"Everybody's fine. It's a girl." She says putting her arms around his waist.

"Just one?" He asks what seems to be the obvious question.

"I don't think Sokka would be able to handle more than one daughter at a time. Look at him." She grins at her brother who gazes down at his newborn princess with all the love a man can possibly survive shining from his tear-brightened, azure eyes.


	13. Shelter

**Shelter**

"Hello." The sharp, feminine voice wakes Lily from a restive sleep.

The prisoner pushes herself up to a sitting position and rubs her eyes with her knuckles.

"Who's there?" She asks the voice, unable to see anyone at the small window.

"My name's Toph." Comes the reply. "I'm here to ask you a few questions. Lily, right?"

"Yes." She answers.

There's a pause.

"Good." The voice sounds satisfied.

Lily steps cautiously to the door to look at her visitor, the first aside from the prince to speak to her.

The woman she sees when she peers through the small window is sitting casually on the floor, leaning her back against the wall.

Toph smiles when she feels the girl, compelled by curiosity, come forward.

"Are you blind?" Lily asks. "I'm sorry." She adds quickly, embarrassed.

"If by blind you mean my eyes don't work, then yes. But I know exactly where you're standing and the position your body's in. Your hand is resting on the edge of the window and… you just put your other hand up there too." Toph grins when she feels the girl's muffled gasp.

"How can you…"

"It's a long story. Want to answer some questions?"

"No." Lily goes back to her futon and lies down.

"Right. Stupid question to start with." Toph chuckles ruefully. "How about this. I'm going to ask you some questions and you're going to answer them because it's in your best interests to cooperate."

Before Lily can form a response Toph continues.

"Did you come here to harm the princess or any other healer?"

"No!" The answer is surprisingly irritated, but Toph's furrowed brow softens. The girl is telling the truth. Good start.

"Did you come here to harm the Fire Lord?"

"No." Truth.

"Do you know anything about Xin's followers?"

"No."

Toph's expression darkens.

"Are_ you_ one of Xin's followers?"

"No!"

Toph sits back and thinks for a moment.

"What do you know about Xin's followers?" She asks in a quiet, firm voice, letting the girl know that the lie has been detected and she would be best served by sharing any information she happens to have.

"Nothing."

"Why did you come here?" A different tack.

"That's none of your business."

The blind earthbender laughs out loud at that.

"You attack the palace and it's not an agent of the Fire Lord's personal security unit's business?"

"I didn't hurt anyone."

"Oh, so the time spent healing the guard with the displaced kneecap was practice?"

"I mean I didn't come here to hurt anyone. They attacked me and I had to defend myself."

"Lily, you're not in any position to pick and choose the information you share. Sooner or later you're going to tell all you know. If anything bad happens before then and you could have prevented it by cooperating, you'll be an accessory and be subject to the Fire Nation system of justice."

"I didn't come to hurt the princess or any other healers." Lily says quietly.

"Do Xin's followers have plans to hurt the princess or any other healers?"

"I don't know." The girl responds.

Wanting to give the teenager a chance, Toph repeats the question a few more times before she sighs and rises to go.

"If you know anything about the plans they're making, you'd better tell someone because I wouldn't want to be you if those plans come about." There's an unmistakable edge to the woman's voice and Lily can't miss the message. She's not getting away with anything because the blind woman understands even more than words.

She needs to get out of this cell. And fast.

------------------------------------------------

Ty Lee squeals when she hears the news of the baby and races off toward Ahni and Sokka's suite leaving her new husband behind.

Aang looks at Katara with his eyebrows raised.

"Abandoned already?" He laughs.

"You never stood a chance." She chuckles. "Be careful. Babies are contagious." She warns him.

"I hope so." He flushes.

"So you're both okay with holding onto the announcement of your marriage until the party tomorrow night?" Katara loops her arm through his and they take a more leisurely pace toward the exciting new addition to their family.

"Ty Lee loved the idea. We were expecting to do it at supper one night or something. This will be more fun." He says.

"After we see the baby, you can meet our other new friends. The castaways." Katara says cheerily.

"How are they doing?"

"Kim is doing great. She's completely head over heels for Yukio. Tinn is loosening up with us. We've had him take tea with Zuko every day and yesterday he actually answered a question without being prompted."

"What was the question?"

"Do you like cake?" Katara giggles.

"I do. What was the question Tinn answered?" Aang smirks and Katara groans.

"You need more comedy lessons from Sokka." She teases.

---------------------------------------------

Zuko rubs his forehead, the recently familiar ache taking root as he listens to Toph's report of her interview with the prisoner.

"When will the next interview take place?" He asks. "I might want to be there."

"We'll interview her every morning for the next few days, my lord." Bokkusu explains inwardly hoping the Fire Lord will change his mind about wanting to sit in on the questioning. If there's one thing that's guaranteed to shut the girl down it's the presence of the monarch at her interrogation.

But you don't just come out and say that to the Fire Lord.

----------------------------------------------

"How are you doing?" Vallon asks Yukio after finding the prince on the sparring field.

"You heard?" Yukio rubs his chin thoughtfully. "Pretty embarrassing. I don't think Bokkusu's ever been so annoyed with me."

"It's because you and the twins are good at what you do so expectations are very high."

"Are you doing the interrogation?"

"You know I can't tell you that." The big earthbender grins.

Yukio laughs. He can't get away with anything.

"I don't think she's an enemy." The prince finally says.

"We'll find out if she is or not. But in the meantime, try not to think about it. If you even accidentally interfere again you'll be in more trouble than even _you_ can get out of." Vallon warns seriously.

"I know, I know." Yukio sighs. "I'll try to behave myself."

Something flickers in Vallon's eyes and the prince knows he can't fool him.

"I won't screw up again." This time he's telling the truth. It may not the be the truth Vallon thinks, but if it gets him off the hook…

And it does. The big earthbender looks at the prince speculatively and then smiles as he relaxes.

"Now catch me up on the details of this girl Taoki's crazy about. Cho Sung's daughter. That's just plain bad luck." Vallon claps a hand on the prince's shoulder and they walk back toward the palace.

"You can meet her at the party this weekend." Yukio says. "Her father has some idea about fixing her up with me, but she was too nervous to just be social so they asked if she could play music. I guess she's shy. We're going to get her alone with Taoki though if we can."

"Cho Sung threatened him I hear."

"Yeah." Yukio nods. "When he came to complain that Taoki knocked out both his sons after they attacked him." The prince still laughs when he pictures the 'fight'.

"Let me know if I can run interference for you. I hate Cho Sung as much as the next guy, so count me in for frustrating his big plans." Vallon grins, enjoying the prospect of meddling with the hated baron.

"If you're not too busy interrogating the new prisoner…"

Vallon just looks at the prince with the most withering of expressions.

"The least you could do is _try_ to seem like you're not angling for information." He says dryly as they enter the palace grounds.

--------------------------------------------------

"Kim, Tinn, you have a special visitor." Katara says as she enters the nursery where the children are playing with Sokka's four boys.

Niko and Tau, the three-year-old twins jump up and run to Aang as he enters the room.

"Appa! Appa!" They yell at him as he picks one up in each arm and spins them, rising off the floor about four feet as he does so.

"He's not Appa." Katara laughs.

"Momo! Momo!" They yell when Ty Lee enters and she giggles along with them.

"How'd they get the idea we were called Appa and Momo?" She laughs.

"How do you think? Sokka." Katara rolls her eyes. "They still call me Auntie Zuko sometimes."

"What about the new kids?" Aang asks as he gently places the twins on the floor.

Katara looks over to Kim and Tinn and notices their wide eyes.

"It's okay. They're nice." She tells the brother and sister gesturing to Aang and Ty Lee. She can understand how overwhelming Aang's trick with the twins might have seemed to the siblings. But all kids love the air and body benders so she's not worried about them eventually loosening up.

"Tinn." Kim breathes in her small voice her eyes round as she stares at Aang.

"Hi, you must be Kim." Aang says kindly to her without approaching.

"No Kim." Tinn backs toward the wall.

"It's the avatar Tinn!" Kim doesn't take her eyes off the airbender as her voice becomes urgent.

"It's okay Tinn. He's a good friend." Katara says thinking she's about five seconds from sending the boy to his room for rudeness.

Aang crouches on the floor, focusing on the little girl.

"Kim, you know I won't hurt you, right?" He says calmly.

She nods in response.

"Would you like to see a trick I can do?" He smiles and Katara nearly groans as he pulls a marble out of his pocket. He has never tired of the spinning marble trick since he created it ten years ago.

But the girl comes forward as the marble blurs between his hands, fascinated.

"Can I try?" She asks.

"No, I'm sorry but only an airbender can do it." He lets the marble drop into the palm of his hand and holds it out to her. "But you can have this. I've got more."

Kim looks at the round stone and then back at Tinn. She looks back at Aang and then suddenly runs from the room.

"Kim!" Tinn starts to run after her but stops as the Fire Lord walks through the door. The boy watches as the two men greet each other with a respectful bow.

"Welcome back." Zuko says over Ty Lee's head as she squeezes him in a friendly hug.

"Well, we heard there were some children to terrify so we thought we'd hurry back to get in on the action." Aang jokes ruefully.

"Tell me about it." Zuko agrees looking around. His eyes fall to Tinn and he gives the boy a smile, in spite of his weariness of the drama. "You're not afraid of the avatar are you?" He asks the boy.

"Nah, he's not afraid of me." Aang grins supportively. "His sister _did_ just run out of the room in sheer terror, but I'm sure that had no effect on his feelings toward me."

They hear the sound of thumping five-year-old feet racing back toward the room just before Kim returns. She clutches the puzzle box she was found with in her hands.

Every adult brow furrows as the girl brings it forward and holds it out to Aang.

"This is a beautiful box Kim." He says taking it and looking it over. "Is it yours?"

The little girl nods and her brother comes forward to join her.

"It's ours." He says in a near whisper.

"Is there something inside?" Aang turns the box over looking for the secret to opening it.

"Yes." Kim says.

Tinn reaches up and takes the box from Aang. He pushes on three spots within the design in a specific succession and the lid slides off the box to reveal a fairly spacious compartment considering the exterior. He hands it back to Aang.

The avatar takes the box to a table and sets it down so he can go through the contents.

The first thing he pulls out is a leather thong with a carved stone charm hanging from it. He looks closely at it, his attention riveted.

Next he pulls out a fragile parchment scroll, thin and brittle with age. He unrolls it carefully and looks at the etching that covers it.

He looks back at the children who have been inching forward.

"Where did you get these?" He asks in a hushed voice full of tension.

Tinn's expression is closed. He's holding Kim's hand as if he's afraid she'll run off again.

"Can we talk about this alone?" He asks Aang in a trembling whisper.

"The rest of us will go outside." Katara gathers the little boys and everyone but Kim, Tinn and Aang leaves the room.

Ty Lee and Aang make eye contact as she reaches the door and her expression asks the question.

"I'll catch up with you outside Ty Lee." Aang responds to her silent query. She blows him a kiss, smiles at the kids and leaves.

Aang takes the box and its contents and sits on the floor with his legs criss-crossed over each other. The children follow suit and he places their treasured possessions in the middle.

"Tell me about all this." Aang says gently.

"The pictures are from my great grandpa." Tinn begins.

"He's my great grandpa too!" Kim pipes up indignantly.

"_Our_ great grandpa. Kim, don't interrupt." He scolds and she pouts. "That's him in the picture." He points to the scroll.

Aang is silent for a long moment as he stares at the artist's rendering of an old, white-bearded man with a blue arrow clearly visible on his shaved head.

"Your great grandfather?"

Tinn digs all the pieces out of the box; another thong with a carved stone charm, a couple of small, newer scrolls, some small chalcedony carvings of animals and, from the very bottom of the pile, an ornament with a woman's face painted on it. Adorning her forehead and disappearing under her black hair is another blue arrow.

"Our great grandmother. When they got married." Tinn explains.

Aang's hands are shaking as he picks up the other scrolls and finds them each to have more renderings of people. These are not people who bear the blue arrow of the master air bender, but men and women in simple Fire Nation garb.

"Who are they?" Aang asks.

"Our grandparents and our parents." Tinn says pointing out each.

The boy then takes the carved stone necklaces and fits them together. They form what looks like a shard, but Aang knows without asking that it's a key. The boy fits it into what looks like a miniscule divot on the underside of the box and a tiny compartment opens up. He pulls out a tightly rolled piece of cloth and spreads it on the floor in front of the avatar.

"This is a family tree. It starts with our great-great grandparents and ends with us." He indicates his sister.

Aang follows the branches of the tree and can't believe his eyes. If what he's seeing is true…

"How is this possible? Everyone was killed." His voice sounds like dry leaves and he clenches his teeth to keep it from shaking.

"It's all in Papa's stories. I fell asleep most of the time, but it was really Tinn he was telling." Kim says proudly.

"Our great grandfather was here in the Fire Nation with a group of visiting scholars when the war started. They were at different universities all over the country. It wasn't long before the soldiers came to round them up." Tinn tells the story exactly as it was told to him, mindful of his duty to keep the history of his people alive.

"But they didn't get Great Grandpa or Granny and Pop Pop." Kim chimes in happily.

"They didn't get a lot of them." Tinn adds. "Our great grandmother had already died and Granny and Pop Pop came to stay with Great Grandpa to take care of him before the Fire Nation attacked the air temples. They were just married and they didn't have our dad yet. They had become close friends with the people they were working with at the university and their friends hid them. When the soldiers came for Great Grandpa and Granny and Pop Pop, they were told they'd either already been captured or that they'd just disappeared."

"How many?" Aang doesn't want to sound as urgent as he feels, but it's happening anyway.

"There were at least a hundred living in the Fire Nation when the massacre started." The little boy should not even know what the word _massacre_ means Aang suddenly thinks as his whirling mind looks for any thought upon which to rest. "A lot of them escaped the soldiers but a lot of them didn't too. The last time there was a count was when our mom and dad were kids and there were only about twenty still living underground like us. The rest had either been captured or had married into the Fire Nation and disappeared."

"Why wasn't there another count?" Aang asks.

"It seemed too dangerous. And it seemed like more and more of them were just blending into the Fire Nation and going away. They had children and raised them to be Fire Nation. My dad's best friend was only half-Air Nomad already, so when he married a Fire Nation girl there was almost nothing left. They just all went away." Tinn shrugs sadly.

"Do you have any idea if there are anymore out there like you?" Aang can tell from the family tree that the siblings' bloodline is only air nomad. The possibility of this being true is overwhelming.

"No. We were trying to find out but then The Collective came and moved into our house with us and we had to escape."

"The Collective?" Aang is thoroughly confused now.

"They moved into our house when our Granny died. It started with a neighbor who knew about us and he said he would take care of us for a little while and then all of a sudden all these other people started moving in too."

"Who were they?" Aang asks.

"They want to stop healers and end kings." Kim says as if by rote.

"Xin's cult?" Aang is flabbergasted. These children were part of the group trying to kill Katara?

"Xin! Yes. They said his name." Kim confirms his worst fears. "But mostly they called him The One. It was creepy." She shudders and crawls closer to Aang to get a comforting hug.

"I'm going to have to ask you to talk to some other people about the Collective, Tinn. I know you don't want to, but it's important that you do. The princess and Ahni are in danger." Aang says firmly to the boy who already looks set to argue.

Tinn's face shows his understanding though at Aang's last sentence. Of all the people the boy has met at the palace the last person he would allow to be hurt is Ahni.

"I'm not very comfortable with the Fire Lord, but maybe somebody else." Tinn agrees.

"So have you two ever tried air bending?" Aang is taking as much comfort from the little girl snuggled on his shoulder as she's taking from him. If it weren't for her he thinks he might be an emotional mess, curled up in a ball on the floor right about now.

"No." The boy shakes his head. "Our parents didn't even know how. None of the air benders living in the Fire Nation were supposed to bend. They were supposed to pretend they were non-bending Fire Nation citizens."

"I'll teach you." Aang's smile turns into an elated grin. "I've never taught anyone air bending before. I can't wait!"

"But…" Tinn looks at the floor. "The Fire Lord."

"What?"

"He killed everyone. They don't want air benders here. You're okay because you're the avatar, but they'll kill us. My dad and my Pop Pop told me so."

"No Tinn. This Fire Lord doesn't want to kill air benders."

"How do you know?" The boy's voice becomes belligerent.

"Because I've known him for a long time. His uncle, Fire Lord Iroh wouldn't have killed air benders either if he'd known about you. Before them – you'd be right – but now you're safer here at the palace with the Fire Lord than anywhere else in the world." Aang assures him. "Except for maybe an air temple and if you're up for it you'll definitely be seeing one of those some day."

"They said the Fire Nation didn't want any air benders to be alive." Tinn can't let go of what he's learned. His parents and grandparents are all dead. It seems disrespectful to contradict all they taught him.

Aang looks at the boy sympathetically. He fully understands Tinn's father's purpose in putting these fears into the boy's head. Not long before he'd been born, Tinn's life would have been forfeit at the first breath drawn had they been discovered. Ozai had been the Fire Lord just two years earlier and he would have stopped at nothing to destroy the air benders in his country had he known of their existence. It was actually prudent of the children's parents to impress upon them how dangerous their situation was.

But things have changed. In a big way.

"You don't have to worry about a thing Tinn. Your parents did the right thing in making you cautious, but now you're under my protection. Fire Lord Zuko will never hurt you." Aang promises sincerely. "In fact, we should go check out the air nomad exhibit in the vestibule of the palace. It's all his doing. He honors our heritage, even though he thought we were all gone."

"The avatar's not allowed to lie, Tinn." Kim tells her brother with all the certainty of a five-year-old, her arms tightly curved around Aang's neck and her head resting on his shoulder.

"See?" Aang smiles at the boy, even as he knows he's permitted to lie and perfectly capable of doing so.

Of course he's not lying now. He's barely able to control his pulse, much less think of a convincing falsehood if the need should actually arise.

He offers his free arm to Tinn and the boy stares at him for a while before he timidly comes forward and tucks himself to the avatar's side, a palpable tremor running through him as the man's arm clamps around him in a solid hug.

Tinn doesn't cry on the outside. He closes his eyes and rests his head on the avatar's chest. On the inside he sobs in the memory of his father's arms.

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**A/N**: I know it's a shock. Hopefully I can update soon with more info. shrug I just can't stand the thought that Aang's people will be no more after he dies. And since I have the power to change that (in my story anyway), I decided to do so. Hope ya don't mind!

MacFie xoxo


	14. Mystery Guest

**Mystery Guest**

Katara sits on a cloth on the courtyard lawn with two sleeping toddlers at her feet while Ty Lee gives her an exquisite neck rub. Her brother, Ahni and the new baby lounge nearby and Zuko patiently lights, extinguishes and relights a fire in his palm for the enthusiastically yelping three-year-olds.

She watches Aang enter the courtyard with Kim and Tinn on either side of him, each grasping a hand. Zuko extricates himself from his audience and joins the trio on the path.

Her husband's head bends toward Aang as he listens. She sees the bewilderment on his face and then a smile as joyous as any she's ever seen and then…

"Did Zuko just _hug_ Aang?" Sokka has joined her on the blanket.

"Yes." She says. "Yes, he did."

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Lin turns the corner of the hallway toward the music room in the Cho Sung mansion when she's stopped suddenly by a hand -- vice-like and hard -- clamping onto her arm.

"What?" She gasps looking up sharply to see her brother, Dozo's angry face descending toward her own.

"Father's ordered me to keep an eye on you tomorrow night." He hisses at her threateningly. "You know if that freak so much as speaks one word to you father will have him killed. I'll gladly do the honors myself."

"He isn't a f-freak." Her voice trembles.

"Y-yes he is, d-dummy." He cruelly mocks. "Just remember what I said. YOU DID HEAR ME, RIGHT?" He yells slowly at her, another mockery she's been forced to put up with her entire life.

He shoves her away and she rubs her throbbing arm, his grip sure to leave a bruise.

She had been hoping to see Taoki, the sweet, beautiful boy who'd been so kind to her. It's the only reason she's been looking forward to the party. But now she's frightened. If they'd threatened her personally she would have ignored it. Her father will most definitely make good on his threat to harm the boy though, of that's she's certain. If only to make a point to the Fire Lord. And what's to keep Dozo from lying to their father? He's mean enough to tell the baron he saw something that never happened and who would their father believe if she denies it?

Tears sting her eyes as she fantasizes an escape. Or, better yet, a different life altogether. It's not the first time she's dreamt of this impossibility.

She resumes her path to the music room trying not to dwell on her disappointment. She's known since her father berated her endlessly after the incident with Taoki that there was no future for her in the boy's direction.

But knowing a thing and accepting it are two different states of being no matter how much easier life would be if all desirable expectations ceased. The threat to Taoki ends all possibility of a friendship, but she won't make it easy on them. Why should she? They never made anything easy on _her_.

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"Bokkusu, may I talk to you?" Aang approaches the box man in the palace library. He'd been surprised on being told he'd find the security man here, but learned quickly from more than one source that this particular room has been his favorite since the end of the insurgency. Whenever someone wants to find Bokkusu in his off time, they look first on the training field and then in the library.

"Of course." The box man closes the book he's looking through and gives Aang his undivided attention.

He proceeds to tell Bokkusu the entire story that Tinn relayed, finally ending with the information about The Collective. The security man nearly knocks his chair over as he abruptly shoots to his feet.

"He can show us where they are? Does he know their plans?" He begins to stride to the door so quickly that Aang has to leap to place himself in front of him.

"Wait!" The avatar holds up a hand and Bokkusu stops abruptly, annoyance flashing almost imperceptibly across his face.

"Tinn won't talk to you. He won't talk to the Fire Lord either. I'm going to introduce him to either Toph or Vallon, whichever you recommend, and I'll do any questioning myself with one of them in the room." Aang explains as respectfully as possible.

Bokkusu thinks about this arrangement for a moment. Direct information about Xin's cult from the unadulterated viewpoint of a child is miraculous. He'd love to be in the room to hear the boy's story. But the avatar is correct. If they scare Tinn, his information will be useless.

"It's a tough call." The box man says thoughtfully, trying to decide which earthbender to recommend. "My instinct is to recommend Toph, but she can be as frightening as anyone. Still, she can tone it down when she wants to. Do you mind meeting with the two of us and going over specific questions we need addressed?"

"Not at all. Thanks for being understanding about the questioning. I think we'll get a lot farther this way." Aang smiles. "By the way, you're the first I've told about their connection to Xin's group. I didn't mention it to Zuko because Kim and Tinn were there with us and if he'd reacted strongly Tinn would have shut down. I'd rather not make a big deal out of any of this though, if you don't mind. Especially not their origin. We have a lot of decisions to make on that issue."

Bokkusu nods. Such exciting news will be hard to keep a lid on, but his team can be counted on to remain silent. At least he thinks they can. He's becoming unsure of his teenaged subordinates. They're skating close to loose-catapult territory.

"Congratulations, Avatar Aang." Bokkusu remembers to say. "The massacre of your people is one of the Fire Nation's greatest shames. To know that Fire Lord Sozin failed to complete the genocide is a small relief. But it's something."

"It is. Thank you, Bokkusu." Aang grins. "How about we find Toph and have that meeting?"

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"I can't believe it." Ty Lee says for the twentieth time. "I just can't believe it."

Katara laughs at her friend. They sit with Kim and Tinn awaiting Aang's return. He'd promised Tinn he would try to get any questioning regarding The Collective over with quickly so they can concentrate simply on learning about the Air Nomad culture and learning to bend.

The boy is excited to begin. When his father was sick and nearing death he'd made Tinn promise to find the avatar. Even the well-known close relationship the avatar shares with the dreaded Fire Lord did not deter Tinn's father from his insistence. Although the boy was frightened, he had always planned to fulfill his father's wishes. He had just assumed he would be a little older and had not planned on their last adult caregiver dying and a cult moving into their home. He had not planned on being taken directly to the Fire Lord's palace to recuperate with Kim after their escape either.

He wishes he could share this with his father. With granny. With … he concentrates on the future now and refuses to recount the dead.

"There must be more out there. At least more with airbender blood." Katara muses.

"I always fantasized I had airbender blood." Ty Lee confides. "I had this whole story made up that some day I would jump up to do a flip and fly fifty feet into the air."

"Did you ever hear anything about the airbenders hiding in the Fire Nation?" Katara wonders if Ty Lee is so unaware that she would never have thought to tell them such a thing.

"No, of course not." She giggles. "I would have told Aang a long time ago if I'd even heard a rumor of it. But we did learn about airbenders in school. You know, how dangerous they were and how the mighty Fire Nation vanquished them. Lies. But I thought airbenders sounded amazing. And now to be marr… oops!" She colors realizing she almost let the surprise slip.

"You know Tinn, I didn't get any waterbending instruction until I was fourteen. You're going to be starting early compared to me." Katara smiles at the boy, changing the subject quickly before Ty Lee completely destroys the purpose of tomorrow night's party.

"I hope I can do it. I've never tried." Tinn says worriedly.

"You'll do great. Just work hard when the time comes. And Aang seems pretty certain you can do it, so I wouldn't worry if I were you."

She hands him a piece an apple she's been peeling and the boy shoves the whole thing in his mouth, grinning at her with his mouth full of the juicy pulp.

Katara can't help but laugh out loud. This is the same boy who wouldn't talk to anyone? The boy who trembled at the mere thought of being in the Fire Lord's palace? How wonderful to see him come out of his shell. She stops herself from hugging him, his changed attitude is so new it feels fragile, but Ty Lee swoops in and squeezes the boy in a tight embrace before Katara can have a second thought. Tinn just keeps smiling and chewing.

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"I'd like to declare this date a national holiday. I want to celebrate the restoration of the Air Nomads on this date every year." Zuko tells the Minister of National Holidays.

"Some might see it as a celebration of a Fire Nation failure." Aang says worriedly. He had not expected this. "They could reject it."

"And it could also signal to all those still in hiding or those of partial Air Nomad descent that this is a new time where they no longer need to fear. They'll be easier to find." Zuko says sensibly.

Aang shakes his head. "While I appreciate the gesture, and I know you're right about it making people more likely to come out of hiding, I want to go slowly. The cult had some interest in Kim and Tinn and I don't want to expose them to any danger when all of this is still so new."

Zuko looks at the avatar. It is in the Fire Lord's nature to go from standstill to full steam where this kind of news is concerned. Aang is right, however. The holiday can be declared once the cult is destroyed and then they can use all Fire Nation resources to find the others throughout this country and the world.

"I'll defer to your judgment." He agrees. "There are a lot of people here at the palace who know by now though, and I'm certain the gossip is spreading. We'll try to keep a lid on it, but you know it's going to be hard. I think extra security would not be out of order."

"Once we've gotten all the information we need from them concerning Xin's group, I'd like to take them to one of the air temples. They'll be safe there and they can start their training." Aang says.

"Bokkusu?" Zuko looks to the box man for his opinion.

"As long as Tinn is forthcoming with the information he knows, I don't see any reason why they couldn't leave as soon as questioning is complete. In fact it _will_ probably be the safest situation for them." Bokkusu nods.

"Let's get a move on then." Toph stomps the ground and makes the conference table jump, startling the Minister of National Holidays into a squeak.

"Toph, remember he's a scared, little boy. Be gentle." Bokkusu warns.

"What do you take me for? A virago?" She complains, offended.

"What's a virago?" Aang asks sheepishly but all the other men turn to her for an explanation as well.

"Look it up." She grins impishly. "I'll be nice." She promises. "Kids actually like me once they get over their terror." She winks a blind eye in their general direction and sits back in her chair in that way she has that makes her look like an unmade bed.

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Zuko and Bokkusu sit in the Fire Lord's office with a carafe of sake between them. They've decided that their exclusion from Tinn's questioning gives them a little time off to socialize. This is a new situation for them. They're used to being able to barge into any interrogation that takes place in the Fire Nation and here they are killing time while someone else does all the work.

On receiving the address of the house from which the children had escaped Bokkusu had taken a team to round up the suspects. Frustratingly they had found the house vacant and scrubbed clean of any evidence. He'd returned to the palace with a dark look and Zuko had immediately invited him to join him in his study for a drink.

"You should have seen him with all those eager, stupid faces looking up at him completely mesmerized." Bokkusu describes the scene he'd witnessed at the prison in the Omashu province. "It was so obvious what was going on and the guards and the warden just brushed it off like it was a good thing. They told me the old goat-buzzard was having a positive effect." He grumbles and takes a small sip from his cup, the memory of his hangover on the return trip from the Earth Kingdom an uninvited guest at this meeting.

"How'd you like your massage?" Zuko changes the subject off-handedly but Bokkusu wonders what he's been told.

"It was good." The box man feels his face heat.

"Song's a nice person." Zuko pours himself more sake from the carafe. "I stole her ostrich-horse during the war." He adds thoughtfully. "I was kind of a jerk back then." He punctuates his sentence with a sip from his cup, waiting for Bokkusu to take the bait.

"I didn't know you then." Is all the box man says.

"How come you never take any of the openings I give you?"

"You're not my fellow soldier anymore, my lord." Bokkusu shrugs. He's been answering the same way for five years. Things change when one becomes king. The security man hopes that eventually the Fire Lord will understand that and stop trying to lead Bokkusu into this kind of sparring.

"I have to go to Sokka for a nice, insulting exchange." Zuko grouses.

"Perhaps a ministerial position should be created for that purpose."

"Minister of Verbal Abuse of the Fire Lord." Zuko nods. "It's a real possibility." He smiles. "Now about Song…"

Bokkusu had just become comfortable again. Had just taken a sip of his sake. And now he's wearing it.

"My lord," He coughs, "Did you hear something about … I mean …"

"No. I was just going to mention that as a healer she's also in danger. They were unspecific about the type of healer they would target, as you've pointed out before. She's a friend of the royal family and I don't think that's a secret. We should probably warn her."

Zuko eyes his friend amusedly before continuing.

"Would you like to go and warn her personally?" He smirks.

Bokkusu is now the shade of his maroon tunic.

"No, my lord. If it's all the same to you I'd rather never return to the Earth Kingdom." He mutters, sounding miserable.

"I'm sorry. I thought you liked her." Zuko says contritely.

"I did. I was with her when they arrested me." The box man says.

"Did you ever see her again?"

"How could I?" Bokkusu responds, agitated.

"Back during the Pacification you were the biggest ladies man of anyone I knew. You were a security risk because of all your camp followers."

"There were only two." The box man corrects, a scowl marking his discomfort with the conversation.

Zuko looks sympathetically at the security man. Fighting the insurgents had been hard on all of the Crimson Dragons, but Bokkusu has changed the most as a result of the experience. Once a big, gregarious rake, the box man keeps to himself now and socializes little.

The scars that mark Bokkusu came after two years of fighting. The insurgents had, for the most part, abandoned the idea of holding hostages from the military, as they tended to lose more personnel during the rescue of those prisoners than they could afford. They would instead steal uniforms and commit crimes in the guise of Fire Nation soldiers in an attempt to sway support away from Fire Lord Iroh. But Bokkusu was a prize. His reputation as a powerful fighter and popular leader made him a tempting hostage and they held him for three days.

When the Crimson Dragons finally found and rescued the box man he was barely alive. If the insurgents had stopped at the merciless beating they'd given him he would have recovered easily, but the 'X' carved into his torso had been bleeding for more than a day and was foul with dirt and grime. He had spent most of the rest of the Pacification in recovery, nearly dying twice. First from blood loss and then from the fever that was the result of his infected wounds.

When he came back to his unit he was changed. There were only a few months left of action, and he did his part, but he was no longer the extroverted, irreverent box man they had always counted on to lift their spirits.

These days his loud, explosive laugh will occasionally cause all in his vicinity to jump out of their skin, but those times are fewer than is acceptable to the Fire Lord.

Zuko had been happy to hear from Chin that Bokkusu had spent so much time with Song. Such elation was obviously premature, he realizes.

Perhaps more energetic measures are necessary.

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The interview with Tinn is finally over and the meeting to discern the importance of the new information has finally begun. A comfortable chair has been brought into the conference room for Katara and she sits dozing quietly, a state she entered within five minutes of sitting down. She is not used to staying up so late these days, but neither would she allow herself to miss this meeting. The rest of the attendees respectfully pretend she isn't there.

"He's still pretty frightened. He's been through a lot." Toph begins. "But he had some very interesting things to say."

"Their grandmother died a couple of months ago. She was their caregiver." Aang says. "Their father died last year. Their mother died giving birth to Kim. They had a neighbor who was very friendly and helpful to them and seemed to know something about their origin. He'd only lived there about a year and a half and had a wife but no children."

"How did he know something of their origin?" Vallon asks.

"Tinn seems to think his grandmother let something slip. After the death of their father the neighbor made a point of bringing them fresh food from the market and checking up on them. The grandmother especially came to depend on him quite a bit."

"And he's the one who moved in?" Zuko asks.

"After the grandmother died the neighbor moved in with his wife and told them he would take care of them. Then other people started coming and they just took up residence too."

"Annoying." Sokka shakes his head.

"They also started to separate the kids all the time. They never let them be alone together, but for the most part they rarely even got to see each other. Kim was getting more and more frightened and Tinn kept arguing to have her by his side, but they acted like he was imagining things." Aang explains. "And they started to have meetings at the house. Only the people who were living there were involved in the meetings, so it sounds like a fairly small group, but the meetings were all educational sessions using Xin's philosophy as a base."

"Great." Bokkusu hisses.

"Tinn didn't hear any of their exact plans, but he did hear something about fried honey cakes." Aang says bemusedly.

"Fried honey cakes?" Zuko asks.

"Apparently they talked about fried honey cakes." Aang repeats. "They would say things like 'once the fried honey cakes are complete' and go on from there."

"Bombs?" Sokka suggests.

"That's what I'm thinking." Toph nods.

"Did they mention any specific times or dates?" Bokkusu asks.

"He couldn't remember anything specific during this interview, but he's going to think about it." Toph assures the box man. "But the really interesting thing is that there was another member of Tinn's family involved."

"I thought the grandmother was dead." Vallon says.

"This was a girl who lived with them pretty much all of Kim and Tinn's lives. An orphan, now a teenager. Named Lily." The blind earthbender smiles, feeling the shock from those surrounding the table.

"Lily? The girl who stormed the palace?" Bokkusu asks incredulously.

"Sounds like it." Aang says. "Only Tinn is convinced they killed her. He says he saw it with his own eyes. He's been keeping it from Kim and that's why he never mentioned Lily before."

Zuko looks at Bokkusu.

"So she broke into the palace to try to rescue them. She was probably brought up on the same stories Tinn was. More than likely she thought I was going to kill them if I found out they were airbenders." He says.

"It makes sense. But why would Tinn be so certain he'd seen her killed?" Bokkusu asks.

"He says they were all sitting down to eat lunch one day and Lily took a drink from her cup and fell over. According to Tinn she was white as a sheet and looked dead. The people at the table weren't surprised at all and they just dragged her away. They told Tinn that Lily had been defiant and she was too big of a risk. They acted like he would understand. That's when he started planning to escape with Kim. He was there for another three days and he never saw Lily again." Aang says.

"It could be the same girl. She might not have been dead and they were just trying to scare him." Zuko says. "It also fits with Toph's assessment that Lily's lying about something having to do with Xin's cult. If the kids are involved, she'd be trying to hide that from us."

"It's kind of neat." Bokkusu doesn't approve of _neat_.

"I know." Zuko sighs. "I think tomorrow morning will be a good time for our Lily to meet the Fire Lord."

"It should go without saying that this information must not be related to anyone but especially not the prince or the White Spirits." Bokkusu reminds them all. "We still don't have all the particulars and the last thing we need is Prince Yukio and the twins demanding her release into their caring custody."

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Yukio walks up to the cell door and looks in. He'd had no response to his greeting so he's not surprised to see Lily sleeping. Her long, heavy lashes rest lightly on the upper curve of her high cheekbones and her lips are ever so slightly parted. Her peaceful, angelic expression in slumber tugs at his heart.

"I was going to tell you the good news we had today." He says softly to her sleeping form. "It's not every day you get to celebrate the failure of your forefathers."

Yukio found out about Kim and Tinn at supper and rejoiced along with everyone else. Then he and the twins grouchily went their own way as the interviews and meetings started without them. They may understand the reason they've been punished, but they're not going to make it easy on anyone.

A tiny snore is her response to his words.

"At least you were asleep _before_ I started talking." He chuckles self-mockingly. "You're very beautiful, you know that?" He whispers now, almost unaware he's said it aloud. He certainly hadn't meant to say it. He doesn't even want to think it. Too distracting.

A twitch of her slender fingers draws his eyes.

"I'll be back tomorrow night after the party. I promise." He says as he takes one last look and turns to leave.

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**A/N:** So YTV has aired The Western Air Temple (episode 312) while Nick hasn't even scheduled it yet. Spoilers are once again prevalent. I've seen the episode, but just in case someone who hasn't decides to take a peek at my reviews, please keep any knowledge you have of 312 to yourself should you be kind enough to drop me a line. And please do be kind enough to review. It makes my day!

MacFie xoxo


	15. Disappear

**Disappear**

"Good morning!" The woman with the sharp voice wakes Lily as she had the day before.

Once again the girl is exhausted. She had slept well for a few hours and then she had been awakened by the unwelcome dreams and imaginings that have plagued her for weeks.

Lily sighs and pushes herself to sitting.

"I have some more questions to ask you. Are you ready?" Toph asks cheerfully.

"No." The teenager responds sullenly and the blind earthbender smirks toward her companions.

Aang sits next to Toph on the stone floor. He smiles slightly at the exchange.

Zuko sits on a thick silk cushion, his legs crossed over each other in the lotus position; his fingers steepled under his chin with his elbows on his knees. He stares at the metal door as if he could see through it.

All three of them are sitting at an angle out of sight of the tiny window. Lily can only be sure of the presence of the person speaking to her.

"Okay, let's get started then." Is Toph's annoyingly upbeat reply to the monosyllabic teenager. "How old are you?"

"Sixteen." Lily responds, a frown crossing her features at the innocuous question.

Toph nods to Zuko and Aang to signal the answer has been truthful.

"Did you enter the palace to harm the princess or any other healers?"

"No! Stop asking me that!" The teenager sharply replies, sick of that particular inquiry especially.

Toph signals that the truth has been told and Zuko relaxes a bit. Even after all the reports and the new information he has not been certain.

"Are you an orphan?"

Stunned silence is the answer.

"Lily?" Toph prompts.

"What?" The casual reply.

"Why didn't you answer me?"

"I decided not to."

Toph nearly laughs out loud at the response thinking it very similar to one she herself might give.

"Okay, so you're an orphan." She prods the girl.

"No, I'm not!" Lily spits angrily.

Toph signals to Aang and Zuko the first lie has been told.

"Were you brought to live with another family after you lost your own family? A family that had secrets?"

"Why…?" Lily snaps her mouth shut with so much force it's almost audible.

Another silence ensues.

"Did you know that Kim and Tinn are airbenders, Lily?" Toph quietly drops the bombshell.

They wait a long time for a response. Toph can feel the panic in the girl's heartbeat and inwardly sympathizes.

"No." The girl whispers brokenly. "No."

Aang stands suddenly and goes to the door.

"Hi Lily." He says to the shuddering girl sitting on the floor with her arms wrapped tightly around herself.

She looks over at him, recognizes him instantly, and immediately scoots back to the wall.

"I'm not going to hurt you. My name's Aang." He says gently.

"I know who you are." She breathes.

"Can I talk to you?"

She doesn't answer so he takes it as a "yes."

"Kim and Tinn are under my protection. You don't have to worry about them any more. Well, you only have to do the kind of worrying every big sister does." He smiles.

"They're alive?" Lily's voice sounds so small and fragile she can't believe she's actually the one who's talking.

"Of course they are." Aang replies. "All three of you were conditioned to be afraid of the Fire Lord, and that wasn't a bad thing, but it was conditioning for another time."

"Thank you Avatar Aang." Lily says sincerely. "We were hoping you wouldn't turn them over to the Fire Lord."

Zuko rolls his eyes wondering why his father reveled so obviously in others' fear. For his part he's finding it incredibly tiresome.

"Lily, did you escape from the Collective before you came here?" Aang asks, pulling back to the subject.

"Yes." Her voice trembles again.

"Do they intend to hurt the princess?"

"Yes."

"Do they intend to kill her?"

"Yes."

Zuko sucks in his breath, his heart firmly lodged in his throat.

"Do you know what they're planning?" Aang asks her, trying to maintain his own calming tone when he also feels a strong jolt of fear.

"No."

Toph signals the girl is telling the truth but only after a thoughtful hesitation. Zuko rubs his face in frustration.

"Tinn thinks they killed you." Aang changes the subject.

"I know. They poisoned me. But I woke up later in a closet. They locked me away in the house Zinjen used to live in." She explains, her fearful tone giving way to bitterness.

"Zinjen?" Aang asks looking at Toph and Zuko who have both sat up straight at this new name.

"He used to live next door to us and then he moved in after gr…granny died." Her voice breaks when she speaks of the old lady and Aang's heart goes out her. To be suddenly bereft of all trusted adult guidance in such a terrifying time must have been … well sort of like waking up in an iceberg after being asleep for a hundred years and finding out you're the world's last hope for peace.

"Lily," Toph speaks up, matching Aang's gentle tone. "Where is Zinjen now?"

"I don't know."

The blind earthbender tenses. This is an outright lie.

"Are you sure?" She controls her voice.

"Yes." Another lie.

"Is he the one planning to kill the princess?"

"When I was there he was."

"Where is he now?"

"I don't know."

Toph concentrates for a moment on Zuko; concerned about the fury she's beginning to feel.

"Lily, you seriously need to tell us where he is." She closes her eyes, hoping to transfer her thoughts to the girl. Warning her to cooperate.

"I don't know." The answer causes Toph to drop her head into her hands and Zuko to leap to his feet.

"You're lying!" The Fire Lord makes his presence known in a roar. "You know where he is and you're going to tell us _now_!"

At the revelation of the Fire Lord's attendance, Lily scrambles to the corner of the cell, clenching her body like a closed fist and presses herself as tightly as she can to the wall, irrationally trying to disappear behind it.

"Zuko…" Aang puts his hand worriedly on his friend's arm but that arm is quickly jerked away.

"You listen to me." Zuko says threatening toward the cell. "You are an accomplice to the threat that hangs over my wife. I will not allow that threat to stand, do you hear me?" He shouts. "You will stay in this cell for the rest of your life if one hair on the princess's head is harmed!"

He stalks quickly to the cell and Aang steps aside. Zuko looks in the small window and sees the girl's state of terror and feels a sharp remorse for his outburst. Shaking off his momentary weakness he calms himself.

"Lily." He says, his voice hard as iron but at least not shaking the rafters anymore. "I am not a cruel man. But my family and my country are threatened and given the choice between them and you … well you can imagine whose life will matter to me in the end."

Surprisingly she nods her head in response, her face buried in her arms.

"I'll give you one day to think about it. Maybe you'll get your memory back by morning." He remarks disdainfully and strides from the room.

Aang looks at Toph, notes her distressed expression and turns back to the trembling girl in the cell.

"We can't help you if you lie to us, Lily." He says honestly. "If you told us everything it would go a long way to getting you out of that cell and back together with Kim and Tinn."

"Where is Zinjen?" Toph asks again, hoping the girl is frightened enough to give them a clue at least.

"What will he do to me?" Lily asks timidly and Toph wonders at the powers of conditioned terror over a girl who had been by all reports an estimable and fearless warrior when she breached the palace.

"Lily, he has a nation and a family to think about. This whole thing started because the princess healed him when Xin nearly succeeded in having him assassinated. There is no righteousness in their cause." Aang says firmly.

"Why won't you tell us where he is?" Toph asks her. "You know I can tell you're lying but you just keep doing it. Why?"

Aang rubs the back of his neck. He's already shamelessly used the children to entice her to open up; some other leverage would sure come in handy.

"Is there anyone you _would_ trust?" Toph suddenly asks.

"No." Another lie.

"Who? Tinn?" Aang asks when Toph signals him.

"No! I would never let him see me like this!" She snaps vehemently.

"Then who? Is there someone else you'd like to talk to?"

"Prince Yukio?" Toph asks abruptly and a smile flickers across her face as she feels the girl's reaction to the name.

"No." The girl replies and Aang notes the signal from Toph.

"If I can get Prince Yukio in here to talk to you, will you tell him what we want to know?" He asks.

"Who's Prince Yukio?" She asks sourly.

"The good-looking boy who's been visiting you. More than once." Toph takes a stab and feels a reaction.

"How…he…" Lily stammers. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Okay." Toph gets to her feet. "The Fire Lord gave you a day. I'd use that time to decide to cooperate if I were you."

"You're not me." The girl quips nastily.

"Obviously." The blind earthbender chuckles. "I'm out _here_ and you're in _there_."

Aang shakes his head as he follows Toph to the door.

"Think about it Lily," He says. "You could really help your case if you'd just open up."

"Let's go take a walk in the sunshine, Avatar." Toph suggests, a grin in her voice for the prisoner's benefit.

Once they're out of hearing range she stops walking and turns to Aang.

"Yukio's a regular." She tells him worriedly.

"Yeah. I'm not even blind and I could see that." He laughs harshly, not really amused.

The Fire Lord will most certainly find nothing comical in the situation.

------------------------------------------------------

Bokkusu looks through the guard notes on the prisoner. He had instructed them to document everything she requests, anything she says, any unusual activity.

The prince's visit to the girl is conspicuously absent. The box man will give this one to the guards however. Yukio put them in a bad position, forcing them to choose between him and their duty. Bokkusu will have a talk with them later to make sure they know their priorities.

Apparently the girl cries out in her sleep. She has never actually slept through more than four hours at a stretch and usually awakens in the midst of a nightmare. She refused to eat her first days in custody, but has eaten every meal since her third night.

Bokkusu grumbles to himself, wondering what might have changed to make her start eating. A certain royal family member comes to mind and he makes a note to question the guard on that issue as well.

Before he can even finish writing he is joined by Toph, Aang and Vallon. The latter tagging along because he ran into the other two in the hall. Toph describes the interview to Bokkusu.

"I was afraid of that." The box man grumbles.

"I think she'd talk to Yukio." Aang says.

"Shouldn't the Fire Lord be in on this?" Vallon asks.

"I'd rather give him a full report." Bokkusu scowls. "I'll talk to Prince Yukio and the guards. Vallon you will partner me in those interviews. Once I know the extent of the relationship I'll inform the Fire Lord."

"Do I have to be there when you tell him?" Toph asks.

"Well you _were_ the girl's questioner so I think it's appropriate." Bokkusu finds a faintly amused smile.

"I knew you'd say that." She mutters.

----------------------------------------------------------

"Are you sure you don't want some help?" Ty Lee asks Katara as the princess supervises the setup for the party in the great hall.

"I'm not going to have you setting up a party I'm giving in your honor."

"But I love it." The giddy newlywed says earnestly. "I miss planning parties for the palace."

"You can plan the next one. I'm almost finished here anyway." Katara stands firm. "You can walk with me after. Ahni made me promise to walk every day while she's recovering."

"You got it." Ty Lee smiles but Katara can see there's trouble behind the large gray eyes.

Finding every point person who still needs final instructions, Katara hastens the completion of her task and leads Ty Lee out of the palace to the path along the sparring grounds.

"So, do you want to tell me what's bothering you?" She asks her friend.

"I'm ashamed to admit it." Ty Lee stares at the ground, true misery in her voice. "Finding airbenders should cause nothing but rejoicing and in most ways it does, but … where do _I_ fit in? Is that selfish? Of course it is. I'm a horrible person for even thinking it, but I'm just married and I'm afraid I'm going to lose him to his people. I'm sorry. You must think I'm a horrible person." She turns her reddened face to Katara and then quickly turns away.

"You're not a horrible person Ty Lee." Katara puts a comforting arm around the bodybender's shoulders. "I certainly can't blame you for feeling that way. I probably would too. We all get emotional about weird things sometimes. This whole party tonight is happening because I was so upset that I wasn't invited to your wedding." She admits and then covers her mouth with both hands. "Forget I said that!"

"I was afraid you'd be upset." Ty Lee says sadly. "If we'd done it at the palace though there would have been politics, and Zuko would never have let you travel for a wedding if we'd sent out invitations."

"I'm sorry Ty Lee. I didn't mean to blurt that out. I'm not upset anymore. I understand why you did it the way you did."

They stand for a moment, each lost in their own morose thoughts.

"Look at us!" Ty Lee finally laughs. "We sure are borrowing trouble, aren't we?"

"Ty Lee," Katara says sincerely, placing a hand gently on her friend's cheek. "Aang wouldn't have married you if he didn't love you with his whole heart. He'll need your help while he trains the kids and tries to find more airbenders."

The bodybender smiles tentatively. She knows how much her husband loves her, but sometimes she just needs to hear it from someone with an outside perspective on the relationship.

"Thanks, sister." She hugs her good friend. "I'm sorry you couldn't be there when it happened. You mean so much to both of us."

"Well I'm here now and we're going to make this celebration romantic and beautiful and … oh there I go again." Katara wipes her eyes, the ever-present tears making themselves visible.

"Wow. Being pregnant makes you kind of crazy, doesn't it?"

"I think it has something to do with the moon and the way my body's water has increased and shifted. I remember some women from the Water Tribe having to sleep fourteen or fifteen hours a day and they'd burst into tears for anything. Our pregnancies can be … distressing, but we usually have calm births." She explains as she takes Ty Lee's arm and leads her along the path.

"That's not a bad trade-off." The bodybender opines.

"No, it's not at all. I'm not so sure Zuko would agree." She chuckles. "He hates tears at the best of times. He's getting used to it though."

"My mom used to grab her belly whenever she wanted to win an argument with my dad while she was pregnant … which was all the time…for both things." Ty Lee says.

"What happened to your family, Ty Lee?" Katara asks. All she's ever been told is that Ty Lee's real family is "gone" and Zuko and Iroh basically adopted her into their family after the war.

"They disappeared." The bodybender says sadly. "When I got back from the war there was no trace of them. I searched, and so did Iroh, but they just vanished. At this point I'm afraid to find out what happened to them. It can't have been good for them to have left no clue at all."

Katara gives her "sister" a hug and holds on tight. Even now the waterbender thinks of her mother at least once every day. How much more horrible it must be to lose your entire family and never know exactly what happened to them?

Ty Lee hugs her back as firmly as she dares. The baby kicks her in the ribs and she giggles.

They walk on, arm in arm, silently imagining what it would be like to share their blessings with those beloved ones they've lost.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Zuko is in no mood for his daily routine of taking tea with Tinn. He would much rather be with Bokkusu trying to come up with ways to make the girl give up the information she's hiding.

But before he can summon a secretary to cancel the appointment, a light knock sounds at his door.

His servant opens it and Tinn stands by himself looking nervous and ready-to-bolt.

"Come in. I was just thinking I'd like some tea right about now." Zuko says, hoping the child will buy his act. "Where's Avatar Aang? Or Ahni? You came by yourself today?" He looks at the little boy who stands wringing his little hands and shifting his weight from foot to foot before him.

"Yes. I hope it's okay." Tinn says anxiously.

"Of course it's okay. Have a seat." Zuko gestures to the tea service the servant has just finished putting together.

The two sit across from each other, sipping their drinks and nibbling sweets. Tinn obviously has something on his mind, but Zuko doesn't want to terrify him by pushing. It's frustrating and again he thinks how much he'd like to be working on getting at the truth over this social obligation.

"I have something to tell you." Tinn swallows his last bite and stands awkwardly.

"All right." Zuko nods. "You may speak plainly."

"I want to say I'm sorry for doubting your kindness." The boy surprises him. "I should have listened to everybody who told me I could trust you and I didn't and that was dishonorable."

"It's okay." Zuko says wishing the boy would stop. If he ever finds out about Lily he's going to wish he'd never said these things. Not that Zuko will change his mind about her treatment. He just wishes Tinn would still fear speaking to him for a little while.

"I just wanted to tell you that … " Tinn's eyes suddenly become wet and he takes a big swallow before he continues. "My father used to argue with my grandmother about Fire Lord Iroh. She didn't want to trust him, but my father believed in him."

Zuko is surprised at the reaction this information causes in him. That his uncle unfairly bore the anger and fear of so many after the war is a pain that still aches for the nephew.

"He also…" The boy continues as the tears finally overflow his shining gray eyes and slip down his cheeks. "He also believed in you."

Zuko stares at the child who simply has no business being aware of the conundrum of whom to trust and whom to fear. The father sounds like he was an open-minded, fair man who might even have brought his children to the palace himself if he'd lived long enough. And yet he can't blame the grandmother for her resistance. She had been here in the Fire Nation when the massacre took place. She had had to rely on the bravery and kindness of friends to keep her and her husband and father-in-law hidden in crawl spaces and attics. No, she would have no compulsion to trust and every reason not to.

"I'm glad to hear that Tinn, thank you." Zuko gets to his feet and stands in front of the boy.

"I want you to have these." Tinn puts his hand in his tunic and then holds it out to Zuko. The leather thongs to the carved medallions dangle from his fist.

"How will you open the compartment?" Zuko asks taking the pieces and holding them unpossessively out toward the boy.

"Airbending." The boy grins.

"Ah. Of course." Zuko nods. He well remembers Aang opening doors in the various air temples by blowing into different crevices. Naturally the puzzle box was made on the same principle. "I promise I'll keep these safe." He places them in the pocket of his robe.

There is an awkward pause as the two contemplate one another.

"You were really happy about Kim and me being airbenders weren't you. You weren't faking it?"

"No, I wasn't faking it and yes I was very happy." Zuko confirms with a gentle smile.

Just as Tinn is about to say something else there is a heavy knock at the door.

The door is opened to reveal Bokkusu, his expression troubled. Toph sulks behind him.

"I'm afraid I need to take this meeting." Zuko tells the boy.

"Just one more thing." Tinn says urgently.

"Just one and quickly." The Fire Lord says firmly but not unkindly.

Tinn takes a deep breath, closes his eyes, bends his legs ever-so-slightly and bursts straight up to the high ceiling before floating back down like a feather.

Even though they have expected this demonstration to eventually come Zuko and Bokkusu stare at the boy as if they've seen a ghost. In a way they have.

_Great. Another twinkle-toes to sneak up on me._ Toph thinks to herself.

"I wanted to show you." Tinn says sheepishly.

"That was amazing Tinn. You're obviously a quick study." Zuko says admiringly.

Tinn suddenly launches himself at the Fire Lord, wraps his arms tightly around his waist, giving him an exuberant hug before racing out of the room.

"He doesn't know about Lily yet, I take it." Bokkusu comments.

"No. And if things keep going badly with her, he'll never know. Is that clear?" Zuko says commandingly to both of his visitors.

"Yes my lord." Bokkusu answers assuredly while Toph nods.

The security man and the Fire Lord agree on many things concerning the security and maintenance of their country. This particular issue is one of them. The complexities of the girl's personal relationships present a challenge, but the bottom line is firm. She _will_ talk.

It would be best if Tinn never knows.

"You'd better sit down for this next bit of business." The box man warns and Zuko groans.

He's having a bad day.

And it's about to get worse.

----------------------------------------------------------------

"Lily?" Yukio speaks quietly as he steps toward the girl's cell. He is about as nervous as he's ever been.

There he was, eating lunch calmly with Taoki and Kenya and a couple of soldiers of their personal guard when Bokkusu came storming up to him, ordered him to follow and brought him to the security wing to answer some very uncomfortable questions.

And then Zuko joined them.

It was not pleasant.

By the time they finished with him he had promised to come with Toph, Vallon, Bokkusu and Zuko to the prison and question Lily himself. They've planned to stay hidden while he attempts to trick her into answering truthfully.

"Lily? It's me, Yukio." He says as he walks up to the door and looks inside.

His heart drops to his stomach as he searches the shadows and the corners and sees nothing.

She's gone.

He turns and looks toward the screen hiding the others and Toph and Vallon emerge before he can say anything. They've felt it already. The cell is empty.

"Get that guard and hold him!" Toph yells heading out the door at a quick pace with Bokkusu quickly overtaking and passing her.

Vallon grabs the panicked guard and holds him down.

"What happened?" He demands in a harsh growl.

"Wh – what? I don't know what you're t—talking about." He stammers helplessly and Vallon knows it's no lie. "I just came on duty. The guard I replaced, Kaizu, got sick and had to go home. Honestly, I don't know what you're talking about."

Zuko is silently staring into the cell; his body tense and radiating not only heat but encompassing fury.

"Did you know, Yukio?" He asks, the softness of his voice a contrast to the sharp anger underneath.

"No! I only talked to her twice, I swear. I came last night but she was asleep! I swear." His mind races over the possibilities. It seems the guard who left must have aided the escape, but who is he? Yukio has never come at this time of day, so he's never encountered this Kaizu person. Never even heard of him, which is a fact that makes him feel queasy.

"He's telling the truth, my lord." Vallon says.

"Who? The guard or Yukio?" Zuko asks.

"Both."

Bokkusu returns to the room with a hardened expression. It's clear he'd like to wring someone's neck.

"We're searching for this guard who went home sick." He informs them.

"She might not have escaped." Yukio says urgently. "The guard might have taken her back to the Collective. She could be in danger."

"She _is_ in danger, Yukio." Zuko says evenly. "From _me_."

With that the Fire Lord leaves the room. Yukio considers trying to catch up to him but he knows he's the last person his cousin wants to talk to right now.

Why would Lily run away? She was safer from the cult inside the Fire Nation prison than outside on the run.

He's certain she's been taken. She was terrified of the Collective and that was why she was lying about this Zinjen person, he's sure of that fact, never mind his awareness that he's rationalizing. He just can't believe she would run away.

Regardless of how it happened, she's gone, he thinks. He has to find her before she gets hurt in a recapture.

And for that he'll need some help.

-------------------------------

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**A/N:** I've discovered that having an epiphany about where the story needs to go doesn't actually help in the getting there. Sorry for taking so long to update. I tend to avoid difficult things and this chapter was no different.

The scene between Zuko and Tinn is dedicated to Wren Sharpbeak who mentioned in her last review that she had wanted to know how Tinn felt about Zuko's happy reaction to the little airbenders. I have to admit it never occurred to me to explore the boy's point of view. So that one's for you, my friend.

Thanks for reading! Happy New Year!

MacFie xoxo


	16. Mistakes

**Mistakes**

Guests file into the ballroom in pairs. The door is partially closed to keep large groups from entering at once so the smiling, congenial security guards who pose as doormen can scrutinize each and every 'friend'.

Katara and Zuko stand at the end of a receiving line that includes Yukio, Aang and Ty Lee. Smiles are taut. Most of the guests are unaware, but a few can feel the crackle of tension emanating from their hosts. Those guests hurry along the line and, with quick backward glances, head for the proceedings as quickly as possible.

"Your highness." Yukio is brought to the present situation on hearing the oily voice of Baron Cho Sung. "May I introduce my daughter, Lin?"

"It would be my pleasure to make her acquaintance." Yukio smiles warmly at the girl. His first genuine smile of the night.

The baron makes the introduction and stands aside proudly as the two teenagers bow respectfully to one another. He feels confident that he detected interest in Lin from the prince. The baron assumes his daughter's encounter with Prince Yukio's friend has fueled a competitive interest as it would have between his two sons. That suits him just fine.

"Your highness." Dozo Cho Sung bows perfunctorily to the prince and follows after his father and sister. Bai follows him after paying the same disrespectful respects.

--------------------------------------------------

Lin surveys the crowd, looking for Taoki. She wants to warn him of Dozo's plans to cause problems regardless of whether or not he ever tries to speak to her. Of course that means _she_ has to speak to _him,_ which is equally against the rules, but it can't be helped. He needs to know what kind of disreputable vipers are after him and prepare for the worst.

She sees a silvery-white head disappear behind an outer door and tugs her father's robe.

"What is it?" He asks her with typical curtness.

"I need to warm up." She says with outward calm, her heart beating like a sparrow-vole's. "May I go outside?" As innocent as a babe she looks him straight in the eye.

"Bai, go with Lin." The baron barks and her heart does a quick leap. Of course he would have her watched. She'd counted on it.

She smiles victoriously at her brother who furrows his brow back at her.

_What's she up to? She _wants_ me to go outside with her and I'm going to miss something inside. Well, the dummy's not going to make a monkey-ox out of_ me.

He follows her to the door and shoves her through it.

"I'll be right inside here. But I'll have my eye on you." He says the last bit threateningly and into her face so she's sure to understand and then he turns both eyes back toward the activities in the main room forgetting she even exists.

Lin disappears around the corner, hoping the fleeting glimpse was indeed Taoki and that he's still in the vicinity.

She looks over the ledge at the garden below and sees no one about. She follows the over-hanging walkway across a balcony and around another corner and there he is!

With a girl.

Her heart sinks. She knows it's not likely a boy like him would actually harbor interest in a defective like herself, but there obviously had been some hope since she feels so deflated now.

Still he must be warned, no matter how awkward this situation might feel. She won't get another chance to speak to him.

She clears her throat. Nothing. She clears it again and the white head pops up, away from the lovely girl he's been wooing. He turns and looks at her, as does the girl.

At first there seems to be no recognition and then his eyes go wide.

"I'm sorry to interrupt." Lin says haltingly. "I need to talk to you." She's memorized this part so it goes smoothly.

"No." He responds smiling, the strange boy. Not phased in the least that he's been caught in the middle of a romantic assignation. And maybe if he _had_ been even the least bit uncomfortable, it wouldn't be so disappointing.

"I only have a moment and I have to tell you that…" He strides toward her and she stops in mid-sentence as he takes her hand and pulls her around yet another corner.

"I'll be right back." He calls to the girl. "Wait for me."

Appalled, Lin struggles to free her arm and he lets go of her immediately.

"I'm not who you think I am." He says and she thinks to herself that the jerk has just uttered a pretty straightforward truth.

"I just need to tell you..." She begins again, determined to get through this speech if it kills her, as he opens a door for her and gestures her through it.

She walks into a parlor where two children, one boy and one girl sit together in formal wear beside a duplicate of the young man who brought her to this room. The duplicate stands abruptly.

"Lin!" He walks toward her quickly and she looks from one like face to the other.

"Oh." She laughs. "I see it n-now. You're identical...almost."

"She interrupted me with Reika." Kenya tells his brother meaningfully.

"Ah." Taoki nods and then turns to her. "That wasn't me." He grins at her blushing face.

"I … gather." She says, a new lightness forming inside her.

"I was hoping to talk to you tonight." He pulls her aside to gain what little privacy is possible in the small room. He's been asked to escort the children to the party so they could see the guests in their finery so he isn't at liberty to leave.

Tinn, being a smart boy, leads his sister to the other side of the room and makes up a game on the spot to play with her. He grins in response to Taoki's nod of thanks.

"This is my brother, Kenya." Taoki introduces her to his double.

"It's nice to meet you." She smiles. "I'm sorry I interrupted you." The remaining blush darkens slightly.

"That's okay." Kenya grins rakishly, bowing to her. "It'll just make her curious." He winks at her as if they're co-conspirators and leaves her with Taoki.

"You were looking for me?" He asks, knowing he'd already been planning to look for _her_ after his escort duties were completed.

"Yes. I need to warn you." She says, falling back into her rehearsed speech. "Bai and Dozo are going to make trouble for you even if you don't pay any attention to me tonight. They said they'll lie."

He cocks his head at this information and gets an amused look in his eye.

"Then I should have the pleasure of the crime for which I'm punished don't you think?" He smiles.

"No!" She responds, alarmed. They're _all_ crazy she decides. "D-Dozo said he'd k-kill you himself." She's humiliated at the stammer, but the boy needs to understand the danger. "He m-means it."

"I have to escort the children into the party soon. Don't worry about me, Lin." He tells her sincerely placing his hand on her bare arm.

She'd worn short sleeves for a reason. She'd wanted her father to see the bruises Dozo had left on her arm. She had wanted to embarrass her family in the Fire Lord's presence. A daughter of a nobleman should not have bruises marring her skin. The baron had been angry and promised punishment for his son but his glare had fallen on his daughter as well. He'd summoned a lady's maid to find a shawl for her to wear that would conceal the mark. Lin thanked him profusely, apologizing for not thinking of the solution herself. It placated him, but there would be trouble with the boys later.

She had not meant to disturb Taoki however and the look on his face when he notices the large, hand-shaped bruise is not what she might have expected.

He seems fragile. She'd thought him so and then heard how he'd knocked both of her brothers out with one kick. He's not fragile at all, she's found. In fact there's an element of danger mingled with his sweetness, made all the more lethal by its hidden nature.

The look on his face is sad, however. Not dangerous. He brushes his hand gently along the lines of Dozo's dark purple handprint and looks at her face.

"Your father?" He asks calmly.

"Dozo." She gulps.

And now the danger shows itself. A simmer of rage that lifts the sadness away from his eyes and replaces it with anger.

"Taoki," She puts her hand to his arm. "Please d-don't challenge him… or even say … anything."

"You shouldn't have to put up with brothers who bully you in your own home." He responds irately. Somehow it's infinitely less bearable to have it be one of the brothers. Siblings should stand together.

"It will make things w-worse for me." Not exactly a lie. It _would_ be far worse for her if she knew he'd gotten himself killed over a bruise on her arm.

A big, ugly bruise. But just a bruise.

Taoki nods. He would never do anything to make things worse for her in that disgusting family.

He looks over at the children and smiles when he sees clever Tinn has actually constructed a makeshift tent to block their view of Taoki and Lin. At eight years old, he's more perceptive than most adults, Taoki thinks as he turns his attention back to the girl.

"I like you Lin." He tells her very sincerely. "I'd like to see you."

"I don't know how." She responds miserably. "They w-won't let me practice on the b-beach without … an escort."

"I'll think of something." He tells her with confidence.

She smiles brightly at him, believing every word. Her language problems seem completely unnoticed by him. Either he's a master at hiding his annoyance, or he really doesn't care. She pops up to her tiptoes and kisses him on the cheek before she turns to go back to the ballroom.

"Can you find your way back?" He asks her but she just waves and forges ahead.

"She kissed you!" Tinn suddenly pipes up.

"You were watching the whole time?" Taoki laughs.

"Only the kissing." Tinn's face breaks into a huge grin and Kim giggles.

"All right." Taoki feels his face heat. "Up you get. Let's go to the ballroom and steal some food."

The children leap to their feet. They need a great deal of readjusting of their party clothes before they can meet the guests. While their heritage won't be revealed, it has been decided that they will take part in palace life in the same way children of the nobility participate. After straightening and pulling their costumes for a good five minutes, each puts a hand in Taoki's and walks with him through the door toward the ballroom.

"Nobody says a word about Lin, right?" The teenager says to them as they walk. "She could get in big trouble and we don't want that do we?"

"We keep good secrets." Kim says proudly.

"You sure do." Taoki opens the heavy door and guides them into the festive congregation.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Zuko watches Yukio as the teenager frets and fidgets through several attempts at socializing. The Fire Lord knows his cousin's body may be in the room but the boy's mind is with the search teams who are looking for the girl. If only Yukio had some perspective where she was concerned, the Fire Lord thinks. His enthusiasm at this point is not only misplaced, it's downright dangerous.

After the discovery of the girl's disappearance an emergency meeting had been called. The prince had argued passionately for his inclusion in the search. Zuko's first instinct had been to toss the teenager from the balcony rather than let him even continue in the meeting, but Minister Kuo surprised them all by siding with Yukio. Later, when the meeting had adjourned, the elder box man had explained to the Fire Lord that the prince was going to search for the girl regardless and including him on the team might at least keep him within their purview. It had made perfect sense at the time, and still does, but Zuko knows how Yukio's mind works and foresees a transgression on the boy's part within 48 hours. That he's aware his knowledge comes from his own similar misbegotten history is no comfort.

The party had loomed before them as an obstacle to the search and Yukio had balked at performing his duties. Once it had been explained that the absence of any member of the small royal family would be remarked upon by the very nasty Baron Cho Sung and his cronies Yukio realized the folly of skipping the gathering. It still rankles however, that he can't get out there and look for Lily. Especially since he seems to be the only one concerned for _her_ safety.

But ever since this afternoon the Fire Lord has made an effort to be not only civil, but actually friendly. There's still a reticence in his approach, but Yukio feels he has a chance to find his way back to Zuko's good graces. Especially if he conducts himself properly in the search for Lily.

"Yukio," His cousin's voice startles the prince out of his contemplation. "The whole point of your being at this party is for you to be sociable. To act like nothing is amiss. You're failing." Zuko finishes dryly.

"I'm sorry." Yukio says sincerely. "You can't be very focused on this thing either." He adds hopefully.

"No, I'm cursing myself for suggesting it." Zuko admits while surveying the room. He has the best security in the world watching his family and still he thinks his eyes and attention are needed for everyone to actually be safe.

"Well, look at that." Yukio motions to the door as Lin walks through, her head held high, a flush on her cheeks. "I wonder if she's been…" He stops as he sees Bai rush close to her and angrily rant in her ear.

"Why don't you go talk to that Cho Sung progeny." Zuko suggests tightly. "Distract him from harassing his sister in public."

"Ugh." Yukio grunts eloquently as he leaves the Fire Lord's side to do his part. Why do the Cho Sungs have to be so obnoxious? He thinks to himself as he makes his way across the floor to the stocky, bulldog-faced teen.

-------------------------------------------------------

Taoki maneuvers Kim and Tinn through the crowd toward the spot where Katara stands with Aang and Ty Lee. They are preparing to take the stage and announce the marriage as well as to introduce Lin's guest performance with the small orchestra.

"Hi Taoki," Aang says as the trio approaches. "Who are these splendid-looking people?" He refers to the children who chuckle at his formality.

"I found them pilfering the buffet." The teenager says nonchalantly wiping crumbs off his mouth.

"Shame." Aang shakes his head and winks.

"You two look gorgeous!" Ty Lee gushes excitedly. On realizing she and Aang would have custody of Kim and Tinn she had gone immediately to the seamstresses in the palace and ordered a full wardrobe for each child beginning with something fancy for the party. The workers had earned their pay and then some with these beautiful clothes.

"Oh Ty Lee, you outdid yourself this time! They look beautiful." Katara lightly touches the rich fabrics draping the children. "Are you ready to make the announcement?" She asks the newlyweds.

"What announcement?" Taoki asks.

"You'll see." The princess winks at him as she takes the dais with Aang and Ty Lee.

It doesn't take the pale teenager half a second to figure it out at that point. He smiles at the children and tells them to listen closely.

Zuko joins the trio on the dais for the announcement. Not one to enjoy public speaking, he stands authoritatively behind his wife as if to remind everyone who she is and why they should listen to her.

Across the room Kenya has entered the party and scans the attendees. He sees Yukio off to the side looking miserably distracted. He sees Lin standing behind the dais awaiting her cue with her nasty brother standing stoically by her side.

As the announcement is made of the Avatar's marriage to a Fire Nation citizen and favorite of the people the crowd erupts in cheers. Aang and Ty Lee grin happily out at the sea of faces and Kenya applauds along with the others.

Yukio smiles at the happy couple as they share a conservative kiss, but his brow twitches ever so slightly as he feels someone press something into his hand. His expression smoothes back to an engaged smile as he makes a non-visual examination of the item in his hand. It's a rolled piece of paper. A note most likely.

The prince glances around the room and catches Kenya's eye. As the crowd parts to allow Aang and Ty Lee to leave the dais Yukio walks forward to congratulate them and hug Ty Lee. Using this movement as an excuse to cut to the front of the room and behind the dais, he goes to Lin, ignoring her brother and squeezes her hand for luck.

Kenya joins him behind the dais as Lin climbs the stairs. He looks at his brother who has found a spot right in the front to watch the performance. Kenya nudges Yukio, gesturing over to Taoki and they both chuckle good-naturedly.

Bai and Dozo move away from Yukio and Kenya and stand on either side of Taoki. The boy doesn't flinch. He's been expecting some kind of move like this. After five years under Bokkusu's tutelage, Taoki is able to focus his concentration with pinpoint accuracy. Not even Lin's overbearing brothers will stop him from enjoying her music tonight. It's as if they have fallen away. And yet, if they make a move, they will find themselves once more on their backs. Even they know that by now.

The sound of Lin's flute soars over the hall. The audience is enraptured. Yukio unfurls the note and reads it quickly. It's just a few lines.

_The girl is here. Come alone._

The text ends in an address.

"What's that?" Kenya asks in a whisper.

"Some girl wants me to meet her outside." Yukio murmurs, hating to lie to his friend, but adhering to his vow not to involve the twins in anything else that might get them punished.

"Why do you get all the good notes?" Kenya jokes quietly.

"Like you don't get your share." The prince snorts.

Kenya grins. He's just become aware of another girl making eyes at him. He moves further from the prince just to be sure he isn't the recipient of spillover and finds he is indeed the target. He smiles at the girl but he's not a cad. He wouldn't hurt Reika's feelings by going off with another girl the same night he's been wooing _her_.

Because his attention is on the girl Kenya misses Yukio slip away. Assuming the prince has gone to meet the mysterious note-writing female, he goes to stand near his brother to lend moral support. As soon as he arrives the Cho Sung brothers back off. One White Spirit is dangerous. The twosome is most likely lethal. Bai and Dozo decide to avoid a losing challenge for the time being and they wander off to find some other source of excitement.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Yukio looks at the small house. It's in an area he's never entered before. He'd had to consult a map of the capitol city before setting out. There are lamps burning in the windows as if a family might just be sitting around a table enjoying a meal. The normalcy of the setting has him checking the note again before knocking at the door.

A male voice calls out to wait for a moment and Yukio does so. He checks the address another time.

The door opens and he is ushered into the main room of the small dwelling by a tall, thin man with an acne-scarred face. The stranger's hair is cut short but the bangs fall down thickly over one eye. He wears no topknot. He wears plain, nondescript clothes but a medallion made of some non-descript metal hangs around his neck. It seems to be in the shape of a lion's head, but Yukio can't be sure. He moves in a measured fashion, seeming to favor his right side.

"Your highness," The smarmy host begins as he moves the prince into the room. "You are welcome. My name is Zinjen."

Yukio eyes the man without emotion even though his racing heart is telling him to lash out _now_. A movement on the other side of the room signals they have been joined by someone who has been waiting in the shadows.

"I told you he'd come." Zinjen says smugly.

Yukio turns his eyes to the new arrival – Lily -- who stands unfettered, unrestrained, uninjured across the room from him. He stops his eyes from going wide at her appearance and narrows them instead, his breath coming in shallow intakes as fury mingled with sharp disappointment flows through him.

"You owe me a gold piece, Lily." Zinjen continues to the girl who keeps casual, but steady eye contact with Yukio.

"Yes." She finally answers her cohort. "I owe you a gold piece."


	17. Flicker

**A/N:** I am putting a tiny bit of the previous chapter in at the top since it was a cliffhanger and I've taken a while to update. Thanks – MacFie xoxo

**Flicker**

"_I told you he'd come." Zinjen says smugly._

_Yukio turns his eyes to the new arrival – Lily -- who stands unfettered, unrestrained, uninjured across the room from him. He stops his eyes from going wide at her appearance and narrows them instead, his breath coming in shallow intakes as fury mingled with sharp disappointment flows through him. _

"_You owe me a gold piece, Lily." Zinjen continues to the girl who keeps casual, but steady eye contact with Yukio. _

"_Yes." She finally answers her cohort. "I owe you a gold piece."_

--------------------------------

"Where's Prince Yukio?" Zuko asks Bokkusu when the box man approaches.

"That's what I'd like to know. I haven't been able to lay eyes on him for a half an hour. Kenya tells me the prince received a note from a girl and then went outside."

"And he didn't follow him?"

"Well, Prince Yukio told him that it was a note of a romantic nature." Bokkusu explains, although he too had chastised Kenya for not keeping contact with Yukio.

"Did he know the girl? Could it have come from Lily?" Zuko's voice is tight, his irritation at the distraction of teenagers apparent in every word.

"Kenya took Yukio's explanation at face value and didn't double-check. I want to put the twins on extended leave until we've settled this. They are very loyal to the prince, which is as it should be, but this situation calls for a more impartial approach." Bokkusu says diplomatically.

"I agree. Put them on leave and confine them to the palace. Until the three of them can take this threat seriously we can't be worried about their every move. When Yukio turns up inform him he's out of the search and confine _him_ to his rooms." Zuko grumbles.

"Yes, my lord. I have a group searching for the prince now. He may end up being embarrassed, but he'll be found." The box man promises.

---------------------------

"So you bet against me?" Yukio says disdainfully to Lily. "You should have known better. Have you ever even _seen_ a gold piece?"

She lifts her chin, keeping eye contact with the prince's contemptuous glare.

"I didn't think you'd be stupid enough to show up." She responds coolly. "You're right, I should have known better."

Yukio calms the fire in his blood. It won't help him to lose his temper and miss his chance at escape. He knows there are others nearby but he can't actually see them, even peripherally. He keeps his gaze locked on Lily and lets a sly smile curve his lips to hide his agitation.

"Lily, you shouldn't be rude to the prince." Zinjen scolds her and Yukio sees a nearly imperceptible tightening of her lips.

"I agree!" Yukio smiles at her, studying her.

She appears calm, in control. But that slight change in her demeanor at Zinjen's scolding was telling. The prince has been trained to notice such things. She turns her head suddenly to apologize to the smarmy leader of the Collective and Yukio's eyes are drawn to a flicker of her left hand – hanging by her side but with three fingers extended. When she turns back to him he focuses closely on her.

"How many?" He asks her and sees her brow furrow. "How many lies did you tell me, Lily?" He asks her pointedly and steels himself as Zinjen snorts unkindly.

"Three." She says and Yukio's whole point of view flips for the second time in just a few minutes. "One time about why I left. And twice more when I said you were right about my needing help. Obviously I didn't need anymore help when I had Zinjen looking out for me."

_One on the left and two on the right. Zinjen will be focused on _her_ actions._

Yukio takes a deep breath, his eyebrows pulling together in thought. He's taking a huge chance but she never said anything about why she left and she certainly didn't tell him even once that she needed his help. Now he has to hope he's interpreting her correctly. And is she talking about _her_ left and right or _his_?

"And now?" He asks.

"Now!" She yells but he's already moving. He'd seen her eyes go wide before she actually shouted and he knew the others were moving in.

Yukio drops to the ground, his left leg extended and spins, shooting a powerful blast of fire at the three "surprise" attackers who had been attempting to sneak up on him, daggers drawn. They leap back, but the concussion of the burst knocks all three into the wall. One, a man about the Fire Lord's age, falls to the ground unconscious. The other two recover themselves and rush at Yukio, flailing their knives incompetently and yelling at the tops of their lungs.

The prince evades their attack with a twist around behind them both and they come very close to crashing into each other. From this angle Yukio can see Zinjen is making a grab for Lily who is leading him on a chase around the room as she runs from wall to wall, ducks and weaves and gives the man precious little to hold onto.

Yukio leaps to the top of a table by the front door, launching himself over the heads of the minions and spreads his arms out as he dives on top of the dangerously inept duo. He slams them to the floor where they both lay suddenly peaceful in a state of utter unconscious.

Meanwhile Lily springs straight up, spins around in mid-air and kicks Zinjen on the side of his head. He crumples to the ground in a heap.

-------------------------------

"My lord, the prince has not yet been found." Bokkusu whispers the distressing news.

The party is breaking up. Yukio's absence has been noted and Katara and Zuko have spent the last hour making excuses for him. Neither is in the mood to laugh it off, as they are certain the prince and twins will try to do. But they are also worried. And this news from the box man makes it clear the prince is no longer in the palace and no one knows where he is.

"I'd like permission to search his rooms." Bokkusu says.

"You have it. Report back to me immediately." Zuko orders.

"Why don't you go with him?" Katara asks, touching her husband's arm and lightly squeezing. Not that she doesn't trust Bokkusu to do a thorough job. She knows Zuko's mind will be on Yukio and it's likely he'll become surly with the remaining guests. Better for him to be out of the way so she can struggle through it without worrying about him insulting anyone.

"You'll be alright on your own?" He asks worriedly. He doesn't want to let her out of his sight at this point.

"I'll stay." Aang says reassuringly.

"Me too." Ty Lee says as she puts her arm around Katara.

"Thanks." Zuko smiles unconvincingly at them, bends to kiss his wife on the forehead and leaves the room with his security man.

"They'll find him." Aang says giving Katara a squeeze across her shoulders.

"I know. But even if he _is_ off with some girl things won't be pleasant here for a very long time." Katara shakes her head in dismay. The prince just doesn't seem to understand how serious the situation is. One would think his abduction by Long Feng when he was eleven would have informed the boy of the ruthlessness of the Fire Lord's enemies; and Zuko's near-assassination should have engraved the knowledge on Yukio's brain. Why he and the White Spirits now see everything as a lark she can't fathom.

"It has been a pleasure your highness." Baron Cho Sung interrupts her thoughts and she stiffens as he touches her shoulder. "I am concerned for the prince. He has gone missing?"

"No, he has gone kissing." Ty Lee pipes up brilliantly and giggles good-naturedly at her own wit. Katara barely stops herself from throwing her arms gratefully around her friend.

"I … well … er … " The baron sputters, staring daggers at the avatar's bride. "I was obviously misinformed."

"I can't imagine who would go around spreading rumors." Katara says pleasantly. "The prince is not in my good graces at this moment because a romantic interlude was more important than my party, but teenagers will do foolish things."

"I remember when I was a teenager…" The twenty-two year old avatar muses.

"Well, I apologize for distressing you with an obviously unfounded rumor." The baron's smooth smile is back on his face.

"Oh, no distress. Not from me anyway. Now Prince Yukio may have a different story tomorrow." Katara jokes and the baron's smile looks like a grimace.

"You!" Ty Lee yelps, taking all the attention as she places her hands firmly on Lin's shoulders. "That was the most beautiful music I have ever heard. And I used to be in the circus."

"Thank you." Lin replies, wondering if she truly heard correctly.

"You must come back to the palace and play for us again." Katara says kindly. "In fact, we could send a palanquin for you one day next week." She offers before looking to the baron. "She'd be perfectly safe with us and we'd return her straight to your door."

The older man is frozen for a moment. He can't possibly refuse and he's not sure there's a need to. The Fire Lord surely couldn't have deigned to discuss an important matter such as the White Spirit's insulting encounter with the Cho Sung siblings with his wife, the baron decides. Obviously she sees the possibility of a match between the prince and Lin. The boy's dalliance with some other girl at the moment is of no interest or concern to the baron. At any rate, he can only smile and nod as any words he might say at this moment would reveal him to be the vicious schemer he is.

---------------------------------------

Yukio looks over at Lily after he's finished binding the three would-be assassins together. The girl stands over the inert Zinjen; staring down at him contemplatively.

"What are you doing?" Yukio asks her.

"Thinking about kicking him." She hisses bitterly.

"You already did." The prince says lightly, trying to turn her mood enough to inspire her to leave without dishonoring herself.

"He deserves worse." She says maintaining her perusal of the smarmy leader. "I should kill him."

"No!" Yukio snaps. "Let's go. He's not worth throwing away your honor."

"Honor's for royalty." Lily says calmly before spitting on the unconscious man.

"Are you done?' Yukio says dryly as he moves down to bind the unconscious man's hands behind his back with the villain's own belt.

"Let's go." She says once the knot is sufficiently tightened, striding to the back of the house and the door leading to the alley behind the row of squat structures.

The two teenagers run through the dark to a main thoroughfare that thrives with weekend revelers. Quickly they are lost and anonymous in the crowds.

"We need to talk before we go back to the palace." Yukio says taking her arm and turning her to face him.

"I'm not going back to the palace." She says stubbornly.

"Nobody's going to hurt you." He sighs irately. "Obviously you're not an enemy or you wouldn't have helped me to get away from them. Nobody will hurt you."

"I'm not going back." She repeats pulling her arm from his grasp.

"What are you afraid of?" He growls reaching out and snatching her hand. He knows the moment he doesn't have hold of _something_ on her person she will run off into the crowd and he'll never find her.

Until the next note and brush with death of course.

Lily looks impatiently down at their joined hands. Her expression is taut and thoughtful as her gaze rises to meet his.

"Zinjen isn't after the princess anymore. He's not even following Xin. His whole focus has changed and he's decided this cult is about _him_."

"And all these people are _his_ followers? Not Xin's?" Yukio makes sense of the information. Of course anyone who makes the effort to lead a cult cannot be trusted to follow the dictates of a dead mentor. Once those trusting eyes are upon him his focus will usually turn to his own purposes.

"I don't think they realize it." Lily explains and glances down once more at her hand in his. She doesn't ask him to release her or pull away, but the clasp seems to disturb her composure. "He's decided that Xin means for him to marry. Me."

"I thought he was already married." Yukio responds.

"He is. But why should that stop a man like him?" She says bitterly. "He's obsessed. They came to the prison for me, not for the princess. They'll follow me to the palace if you take me there."

"Where else would you go?"

"I'm going to leave the capitol. I can cook a bit and sew. I can make my way up the coast and get a ship to the Earth Kingdom."

"Doesn't the cult have cells in Dirt Land?"

"Dirt Land?" She looks at him questioningly and then shakes it off. Royals are strange beings after all. "They do, but they still serve Xin's vision. They won't care about me."

"And you don't think Zinjen can manipulate them into capturing you and either returning you or holding you until he can come?" He grills her. She hasn't thought this through.

"Do you know why he sent _you_ that note?"

"That was my next question." Yukio says.

"Because Zinjen keeps his followers loyal through hate and promises that some day they'll be able to kill the princess, the ultimate healer sacrifice. But they know he could make their chance for them and he doesn't. He doesn't want to make the ultimate sacrifice because he knows _his_ tale of glory will be over then."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"They're worked up. They need to kill someone. The Water Tribe captain would never allow his wife to come alone and he'd be too much trouble to take down along with her. She was the first choice, but Zinjen decided it was too difficult.."

"I'm the only one stupid enough to come alone."

"I didn't mean that." Her face flushes. "I wanted to see what Zinjen would do if I was verbally abusive to you. I know you're not stupid. But you _are_ impulsive."

"I am." Yukio agrees thoughtfully. "But if I hadn't come you'd still be in his clutches so it's not all bad, right?"

"I suppose. But I'm not the one he planned to murder." Lily responds.

"Do you really think he could be the cold-blooded killer he pretends to be?"

"He killed Granny." She says flatly.

"Are you sure? She was very old." Yukio figures in his head. The woman had to have been well over a hundred years.

"He told me. He put a pillow over her face while she slept and suffocated her. We just thought she died in her sleep, but he'd been rounding people up and he needed to move them in. She wasn't dying fast enough." Lily explains tightly, holding in check the rage she's known since the day Zinjen took a special interest in her adopted family.

Yukio takes it all in. It's actually worse than he thought. Taking down Zinjen's cult might be easier since his ego has gotten out of hand, but the likelihood of all the cell leaders becoming full of themselves adds an element of chaos to the proceedings.

"I'm not a healer. Why would killing me satisfy them?" Yukio wonders.

"Zinjen told us Xin's vision was wider than healer sacrifice." Lily shrugs. "The point was that killing you would satisfy _him_. He knew you visited me. He thought…" She looks down at their joined hands again.

"I'm taking you to the palace." Yukio pulls her and she struggles, trying desperately to wrench her hand away. "Trust me."

Lily stares at him, wide-eyed. The memories and the images swirling in her mind. Her brothers' faces as they bent toward her, their amber eyes sad and regretful.

_Never trust. Never trust the Fire Lord._

Granny warm hand on her shoulder as they walked to the market in the mornings. Kim and Tinn's father, Tao Wu, hugging her tightly and quieting her fears.

_I'll never let the Fire Lord get you._

And the Fire Lord himself, eyes glittering with fury and his voice hissing with menace.

_You can imagine whose life will matter to me in the end._

"Prince Yukio." She says calmly and he turns to her. "I'm not going with you."

"Enough." He grumbles and pulls her hand that much harder turning away and dragging her down the street.

"I'm sorry." She chokes as she viciously jabs the side of her foot into the back of his knee, knocking him off balance and forcing him to let go of her hand in order to break his fall.

She skirts past him and down the street toward the Fire Harbor.

Yukio scrambles up, cursing furiously, and takes off after her, favoring his right leg where she's done her damage.

----------------------------------------------------------------

"He's gone to this area most likely." Bokkusu circles a few blocks on the map they've found in the prince's rooms.

"How do you know?" Zuko asks.

"He had the map spread out on his bed and his finger made a depression in that spot. It hasn't had time to smooth out. He's not far." Sokka explains. He had joined the search the moment he heard the commotion in the family wing. Having left the party directly following Aang and Ty Lee's announcement due to baby Tatia's voracious appetite he and Ahni had been unaware until that moment that anything had happened.

"I could use someone like you on my team." Bokkusu comments dryly to the captain. "To replace the teenagers I'm planning to throttle."

"I have a job." Sokka smiles. "But if I ever decide to give up the sea I'll remind you of that offer."

"How long before your team can get there?" Zuko inquires staring down at the map and trying to picture the area in question. He's not sure he's ever been there.

"They'll be there soon. It's not more than two miles from the Fire Harbor." Bokkusu says as he moves reluctantly toward his scowling father to make his report. 

--------------------------------------------------

Yukio grits his teeth at the cramp Lily's kick has left in his leg. He can just see what he believes is the top of her head moving off down the road ahead of him. He's furious with her. He wants to wring her neck. He's appalled and repulsed by her stupid behavior.

He's worried about her.

"Prince Yukio!" A familiar voice stops his thoughts. He looks over to see Commander Chin heading in his direction.

"Chin, I'm glad to see you. Take this." Yukio hands the commander the note he received at the party. The note with the address where hopefully a group of unconscious people will be found and arrested for attacking a member of the royal family. "At that address are some people who need to be taken in for questioning."

"Why are you out here without an escort? Where are the White Spirits?" Chin's expression has darkened as he experiences the unmistakable feeling of being purposely diverted.

"Just go there!" The prince huffs as he turns away. "Don't follow me! I'll see you at the palace. Consider the people in the house dangerous." And he runs off down the street.

_Was he limping?_

Chin looks down at the note and across to some of his shipmates to demand they cut their liberty short for a quick task on behalf of the prince. None of them minds. Adventurers in spirit they have been slightly bored by the extended peace and the prospect of arresting someone is actually very appealing.

-----------------------------------------------------

Bokkusu finds the Fire Lord still in the prince's rooms. His old friend is looking out the window at the black nothingness past the cliffs. The prince had chosen these rooms because he'd said they made him feel he was sitting on the edge of the world. Yukio can often be found in the same position his cousin now stands, staring out the window contemplatively.

"My lord." The box man's voice rumbles and Zuko turns.

The Fire Lord's blood turns to ice in his veins at the grim expression on Bokkusu's face and he waits for the news.

------------------------------------------------------

"Lily! Stop!" Yukio finally calls to her. She's not much ahead of him anymore; certainly close enough to hear his voice.

She doesn't acknowledge him and keeps jogging toward the harbor on obviously tiring legs.

The prince steels himself, takes a deep breath and launches himself into a sprint ending in a tackle. Not the most surreptitious handling of the situation, but he's tired of chasing her and his leg aches and he wants to get home. He wants to drag her by her hair like an ancient ape-aroo back to the palace and throw her at Bokkusu's feet. He wants to tell her she's under arrest and on her own.

Naturally she doesn't go down. She slips from his grasp and he ends up face down on the gravel.

"I won't stop following you." He pants. "You'll never be free of me. How do you like that?" He struggles up, realizing that she stopped when his body crunched on the hard ground.

He stands unsteadily. Lily notices a wide scrape on his cheek that drips the thinnest line of blood. Impossibly it makes him more attractive.

"Are you okay?" She asks him tentatively.

"Oh this?" He gestures to the scrape as he limps toward her. "My leg hurts worse." He smirks.

"You brought it on yourself." Lily raises her chin and looks at him defiantly as he encroaches on her space.

"You're under arrest." Yukio takes her arm gently but firmly. "For attacking a member of the royal family and for luring me to my near death and for escaping the prison and for all the other obnoxious things you've done recently." His voice is almost tender and she doesn't realize at first what he's just said.

"I'm leaving the country. I won't be a bother to anyone anymore. I promise." She pleads, her fine eyes piercing his own. "He'll find me at the palace. He'll kill you and the Water Tribe healer. He'll find Kim and Tinn. But if I'm gone he'll look for me somewhere else and the princess and everyone else will be safe. From him at least."

"Let me think." Yukio says, his eyes shifting from her gaze.

If he can get her to divulge all the information she knows about Zinjen's cult then she's of no further value as a prisoner. But it's a process best done at the palace with Toph or Vallon in attendance. And Lily won't return to the palace without breaking about two hundred more laws and being tied to a pole by her feet and hands like an antelope-boar.

"Let's go someplace quiet." He says still holding her arm.

"Halt!" The sound of a serviceman's voice explodes near Lily.

"Prince Yukio, you are hurt?" Another man appears beside the prince.

"What's going on here?" Yukio demands.

"I knew it." Lily hisses at him, hate and distrust filling her eyes.

"You're under arrest." A large firebender from Chin's crew grabs for Lily's arm.

Yukio is not surprised that the girl fluidly avoids the grab, shimmies over the man's shoulder to the other side of him and takes off.

And of course the prince takes off after her. Battered and bruised, he still has very little trouble catching up. He _has_ been racing Taoki for five years after all.

More soldiers from the Marketplace are hailed and Yukio and Lily find themselves pursued from several sides.

"Can you swim?" He asks her breathlessly.

"What?" She snaps.

"Can you swim?" At her nod he grabs her hand, guides her up the pier and over the edge into the ocean.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Chin approaches the house and is surprised to see he's not the first member of the authorities to have been summoned. The lane in front of the tiny, dingy house is now crowded with onlookers and security men. He notices a few familiar faces from Bokkusu's team and heads toward them.

"Commander Chin." A fresh-faced investigator bows. "We're honored to have your assistance." He seems uncertain. What assistance? There's more going on here than just a few folks who need to be taken into custody.

"I was given this address by Prince Yukio down near the Marketplace. He said there were some arrests to be made here."

"Prince Yukio? He's alive?" The young man's face lights up as bright as one of the torches. He calls to a superior and relays the news.

"I just saw him not forty-five minutes ago. I sent several of my men to follow him. The prince seemed to be chasing someone but he was very anxious that I come here so I sent some personnel after him." Chin remembers the superior from years ago. The man had been a member of the famed Crimson Dragons. They have all remained close, most of them working in security with Bokkusu and Minister Kuo.

"Well that's good news at least." The man says soberly.

"Prince Yukio told me there were people to be arrested here." Chin repeats the description of his task. Or what he believed was his task up until this moment.

"I don't think we'll be arresting any of these people." Comes the grumbled reply as the man opens the front door to admit the commander.

Chin nearly takes a step back in horror. He swallows back the bile that rises to his throat as he takes in the bloodbath.

"I'm glad we can rule the prince out as a victim." The man tells him. "There are three here. All unidentifiable."

"What kind of monster..." Chin mutters softly.

Why did Yukio send him to this place? Did the prince know who did this horrible deed? Was it the person he'd been chasing? Chin curses himself for not staying with the young man instead of sending a few crewmembers in his stead.

Unable to look upon the grisly crime scene any longer without retching, Chin turns away.


	18. Comfort

**Comfort**

The hold is musty and dark. Crates are tied down loosely so they creak alarmingly when the inevitable jolts of the open sea toy with the Earth Kingdom vessel and its crew. The ship's stowaways are too exhausted by far to notice the movements and sounds or even the dank smell.

After swimming hard away from the pier and toward the anchored ships, Yukio and Lily had found themselves rope-climbing up the side of a large vessel, ducking through an anchor bay, being chased to starboard and again over the side and into the ocean for more swimming. It was lucky for the teenagers however that they hadn't remained on the first ship for it turned out to be part of Chin's fleet and will not be leaving the Fire Harbor for weeks.

Their second boarding was exactly what they had hoped for. An Earth Kingdom cargo ship bound for Chameleon Bay and pulling anchor just minutes after they'd climbed aboard. With the crew engrossed in making way, the duo found the hold and tucked themselves away in an empty pocket between crates.

Lily is shaking convulsively, her teeth chattering hard enough to break. Not being a firebender she has no means of internal temperature regulation and the swim through the harbor has affected her strongly.

Yukio gathers her close and warms her with his arms, wrapping himself around her like a cloak, her back to his chest, his legs bracing hers on either side. She is completely wrapped in his embrace. At first she struggles, not understanding his intent but then stills, allowing the heat to dry her clothes and halt the violent trembling that seems to be shaking her straight through to her bones.

The prince runs warm fingers through her long, tangled hair and a small amount of steam rises from the thick, ebony mass. Within a half hour she's dry. And warm.

And asleep.

Yukio rests his back against the crate behind him and positions himself as comfortably as possible without waking her. His mind considers staying awake a split second before it follows his body into sleep.

--------------------------------------------------------

The relief on Zuko's face on hearing of Chin's encounter with Yukio is palpable. That positive feeling is short lived however as the full report of the killings and Yukio's evasion unfolds. The prince could have allowed the girl to be arrested. He could have made the arrest himself and used the crew as backup. Instead he caught up to her, grabbed her hand and led her to the ocean and escape.

"He was described as bleeding from a cut on his face and favoring his right leg. I noticed the limp in my encounter as well, but he had no other wound at that time." Chin explains.

"Is there any chance they didn't make it to a ship?" Zuko asks.

"There have been no bodies found in the harbor and we know the prince is a very strong swimmer." Chin says. They all know that if the girl had not made it Yukio would return either with her body or to search for her. "They were spotted on one of my destroyers, but they jumped back in the water before they were caught. There were three boats leaving the harbor within a half hour of that time. One headed to Chameleon Bay, one to Imiyo, and a party craft headed for Ember Island. We intercepted the party craft and it has been ruled out."

" Would he go to Imiyo?" Zuko wonders aloud. This is the small port town where Yukio was abducted five years ago. It is not a place of good memories but it _is_ a place where the prince and Lily might easily hide in the mountain caves for a long time. The hunting is good and the wild apple groves bear fruit nearly year round. They could evade capture and keep a balanced diet as well.

"He hates the Earth Kingdom." Bokkusu says thoughtfully. "And Imiyo holds bad memories. But he's at least familiar with the area. If I were him weighing the pros and cons, I'd go to Imiyo."

"Send a message to our embassy in Ba Sing Se and to whoever we've got anchored in the harbor there. It's probably too late to get to the captain of the Earth Kingdom ship before they make port."

"Shall I also contact the captain of the ship bound for Imiyo?" Bokkusu asks.

"No. Send a team there. Have Vallon lead them. Or Toph, it's your call." Zuko rubs his forehead, tired of making decisions. Tired of worrying.

"I'll send Vallon to lead the mission." Bokkusu bows and heads to the door at a fast clip. He turns back suddenly with one more question. "My lord, what are your orders if the prince resists?"

Zuko pauses but he's not thinking about the answer. The answer is obvious. He's just trying to get the words past the lump in his throat.

"He's committing a crime against the Fire Nation. You'll treat him like everyone else." His voice sounds strange even to himself.

Bokkusu looks sympathetically at his friend. Once again he inwardly curses the affliction of teenagers. He turns to leave.

"Bokkusu," Zuko stops the box man once more. "Bring him back in chains."

"Yes, my lord." Bokkusu leaves his sovereign with one last glance.

Head hanging, eyes closed, the Fire Lord doesn't acknowledge the exit.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Katara sits across from Minister Kuo. The elder box man has been filling her in on all that has transpired in the last few hours. Her face pales when he delicately describes the findings at the house.

"And you're sure Yukio wasn't one of them?" She asks anxiously.

The minister goes on to describe the escape and she shakes her head disgustedly.

"What is he thinking? Jumping into the ocean in the dark with someone he barely even knows." She grumbles furiously. "But they were seen on one of Chin's fleet? That's confirmed?"

"It is confirmed, Princess."

"What can I do?" She asks almost plaintively.

Katara and the minister have formed a bond over the past few weeks. Not long after her husband decided to have security meetings behind her back, she discovered his deception. A terrible liar and distracted person, Zuko completely missed her presence in the hall one early morning when he made his daily visit to the elder box man.

Naturally she confronted Minister Kuo the moment her husband left the office. She was surprised at how willingly the man gave her the information she sought.

He even told her why sharing many of the details of his meetings with the Fire Lord did not bother him.

Katara learned that the minister's wife, Bokkusu's mother, had initially been Kuo's commanding officer in the military. By law when they became involved one of them had to leave the service. As they planned to marry and start a family, it was she who resigned.

When Kuo entered the security services he found himself drawing away from her. He didn't want to discuss the things he'd had to order in his capacity as security officer. He hadn't realized how profoundly he'd changed until she confronted him with his secrets.

She'd gone around him. To his superior whom she knew from her former service. She told him that she knew everything he was working on and that she could always find out so it was pointless for him to keep secrets.

Nonetheless she wouldn't allow him to speak of these things to her. It was enough that she could know. And it lightened his own burden that she knew and he didn't have to be the one to discuss it with her.

She was then and is now his "peaceful place".

The only difference is that Katara has not informed Zuko that she is aware of his orders. She's not sure how to broach the subject and fears he might punish the minister for not gaining permission to divulge this information. For now she'll keep a deception of her own.

For keeping her knowledge a secret from him does not preclude her serving as his "peaceful place" and that is all that matters for the time being.

When she opens the door of Zuko's study she finds him alone and sitting exactly where Bokkusu left him. He looks up at the sound of her voice and she sees his face is dry but his eyes are still wet.

Without saying a word she wraps him in her arms and holds him closely as he buries his face in the crook of her neck and pulls her as tightly to himself as he dares in a desperate search for the peace he knows he can only find with her.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

"Are you okay?" Toph runs the flat of her hand lightly up and down Vallon's back.

"Yeah." He says unconvincingly.

"You and Yukio have a close bond." Toph muses. "Do you have any idea why he's behaving this way?"

"Pretty women make otherwise intelligent men into morons." He shrugs.

"Well you're not a moron." She smirks. "What does that say about my looks?"

"I wasn't intelligent to start with so you just haven't noticed the difference." He jokes lamely.

"I'm going to miss you. Even though it seems like the obvious place for Yukio to go, I have a feeling he's not going to be there." She grumbles.

"Which is why Bokkusu's going to the Earth Kingdom instead of Imiyo." Vallon puts his arms around her.

"I know. He's taking me with him. That's how I got the feeling."

"If we're not back in time for the wedding we're eloping the first chance we get."

"That would seriously tick off Princess Sweetness." Toph warns.

"Hey, if I'm not Mr. Toph Bei Fong soon, _I'm_ going to be seriously ticked off." He growls.

She can't help but chuckle at his silliness.

Mr. Toph Bei Fong.

Her parents would have a rooster-cow.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

"We'd like to be included in the search for Prince Yukio … my lord." Taoki says tentatively after the thorough dressing down he and Kenya have just received.

"And you will be." Zuko says quietly, his voice carefully controlled and more ominous sounding than if he were to roar in his rage. "You'll start by cataloging and documenting all the statements of the agents first on the scene of the murders. After you've written and rewritten the description of the crime scene a few times perhaps you'll begin to see how serious this situation actually is."

"My lord…" Kenya begins, finding it horribly unfair that Taoki should be punished for his sloppiness.

"Dismissed." Bokussu barks authoritatively.

Zuko isn't even looking at them anymore. He's perusing the manifests for the two ships they suspect the prince and Lily to have boarded.

The twins bow to the Fire Lord.

He ignores them.

They silently leave.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

"I feel like I'm abandoning them." Ty Lee tells Aang as she packs her bag for their morning departure. Since they're only going to Air Temples she isn't packing much. Just a few essentials and a couple of changes of clothes. If they were going to Ba Sing Se Appa would be groaning under the weight of her wardrobe, but as it is she's finished packing within ten minutes.

"Believe me, I feel the same way, but we need to get Kim and Tinn out of here. It's too dangerous now." He replies. "If anything happens to Katara … "

"Or Ahni," Ty Lee nods. "Even if I couldn't have stopped it from happening by being here I'll feel guilty for the rest of my life. But mostly poor Zuko's under so much stress. He's family and I'm leaving." She swipes quickly at an annoying tear that insists on making its way down her cheek.

"I'd let you stay if I didn't need you to help train the children." Aang takes her hands in his. "They need you as much as Zuko does."

"I know. I wish I could be two places at once." She rests her head against his chest and closes her eyes. "It's so easy to get used to peace."

"And easy to forget to protect it." Aang agrees.

"I need to go say 'goodbye'." She kisses him lightly on the lips. "Maybe there's something I can do to help before we go."

As he watches his wife leave the room Aang sits heavily on the bed. Leaving tomorrow morning will be one of the hardest things he's ever done.

He imagines the scolding Pathik would be giving him right now. How he would smirk at him and demand he get over it. And he'd be right. Even seven months pregnant Katara can take care of herself in a fight, of that he has no doubt. And she obviously knows it because she's taken to wearing her water skin again ever since this trouble began.

And Zuko's no slouch at protecting those he loves.

Aang reminds himself of these important things and feels some of his tension drain away.

Then he thinks of 'fried honey puffs' and his insides clench like a fist and he's back where he started.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

"Lily," Yukio's breath tickles her ear.

A slight whining groan emits from her. She wrinkles her nose, scratches it lightly and goes back to slumping limply against his body.

They've been traveling through the night and now it's after noon. Lily has slept the entire time. He had only moved her for a few moments a couple of times in order to search the hold for food and drink and to see to his personal needs. He's found a few barrels of fresh water and some crates of platypus-bear jerky. He hopes her teeth are strong. Each time he returned to her, he positioned himself behind her and gathered into his warm arms.

He's just heard the bells that signal their entry to Chameleon Bay. Thanking the spirits for the end of the journey he shakes the slumbering girl a little harder.

Her eyes open and she blinks confusedly at first. Then she fixes her gaze on him, a question forming.

"It's time to get up." He says brushing a thick lock of hair out of her eyes and hoping she doesn't attack him for having his arms wrapped so tightly around her.

"Why?" She yawns stubbornly and snuggles back closing her eyes resolutely.

No attack. That's a good thing.

The bells sound again, signaling their approach to the harbor. He shakes her again and she sighs exasperatedly.

"Whaaaat?" She groans.

"We've just made it to the Earth Kingdom."

Her eyes snap open, suddenly alert.

"What?" She sits up straight.

"We're here." He smiles.

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**A/N:** In case anyone forgot from an earlier chapter -- fried honey puffs are what Tinn told Aang the cult used to talk about. Sokka and Toph believe they were referring to explosives.

Thanks for reading!

MacFie xoxo


	19. Preparation

**A/N:** As I stated at the end of Parts of a Whole as well as at the beginning of this story I will be focusing on OCs along with the canon characters. This chapter is no exception. If that bothers people and they can't enjoy it, I encourage them to find another story on FFN that they _will_ enjoy.

To all who are not bothered by my OCs, here we go! And thanks!

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**Preparation**

"You have gold pieces sewn into your clothes?" Lily's voice reflects her astonishment.

"My cousin makes all of us do it. He ended up a fugitive with nothing during the war so he has us do this." Yukio explains distractedly as he uses a small dagger to carefully pick the threads around one of the gold pieces sewn along the hem of his tunic. Indeed even Katara has gold pieces sewn into her clothes just in case.

"Royalty." Lily mutters.

"Sorry I'm prepared. Maybe you could find a way to earn a couple of these things and buy us some food and supplies before night falls." Yukio grumbles at her.

"Why bother when I'm traveling with a prince who has money literally hanging from his body?" She snorts derisively.

They're both tense. They managed to elude the crew of the ship as they escaped into the bay but neither had been in the mood to swim again and the tides had been a difficult obstacle to overcome. When they finally made it to shore, they found they were going to have to walk at least a mile to get back to the harbor on the outskirts of Ba Sing Se. Over the past five years, this area has grown, but the currents had taken them far from their original destination, away from the bustle of civilization, and they'd looked upon their further journey with dread.

By the time they reached the rows of houses and shops they were hungry, thirsty, tired and sick of each other. And Lily's mocking tone is not helping matters at this point.

"Just give me a minute." Yukio manages to split the threads and pull out one of the pieces. One should be more than enough to get them a hot meal and plenty of tea. He needs to buy a few other supplies though so he goes back to picking the threads.

"Just rip it open. It's taking forever!" Lily snaps, her stomach grumbling its agreement. "Your precious cousin will forgive you for putting a hole in your shirt I think." She knows she's spouting bilious nonsense, but there isn't a measurement in the world that can calculate how tightly wound she is right now.

"Don't ever talk about him that way!" Yukio grits out, his eyes narrowing at her. "I don't want to have to buy clothes on top of everything else. It's not a crime to take care of the things you have."

"And I'm sure they wouldn't have the fine materials in the Earth Kingdom that your highness is used to." She smirks nastily.

"Get over it Lily." He growls, pulling out one more coin and standing to face her. "I'm royalty, so what? I'm a peasant too."

"I'm sorry, your highness." She responds. "I forgot the Tale of the Peasant Prince."

Yukio winces. After he had been brought to the palace five years ago a courtier hoping to curry favor with the Fire Lord through the boy had commissioned a children's story titled "The Tale of the Peasant Prince" with Yukio as the main character. It was a highly romanticized version of the prince's childhood and included many more daring feats than could have been accomplished by a boy of his age, but it had been and still is very popular with children and so it continues to follow him. Typically the girls gush over it and the other young men his age smirk. He's not in the mood for either right now, especially not from her.

"Let's just get some food." He sighs wearily.

"Yes, your majesty." She says sarcastically.

"Highness." He mutters in return and walks toward the shops, hoping she'll follow.

Which she does, to his surprise.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Katara awakens on her bed, suddenly bathed in afternoon sunlight. Sokka stands by the window grinning, the scoundrel having cruelly thrown open the drapes in hopes of seeing the very expression she's giving him now.

"What's your problem?" She grouches covering her eyes with her arm and rolling over to face away from the glare.

"It's after lunch." Her brother scolds. "If you sleep all day you'll be up all night."

"I _was_ up all night." She yawns and reaches for her robe. "Most of it anyway." Now her brow furrows as she tries to remember just when she came to her bed.

She had sat up with Zuko in his study. He wouldn't sleep and she wouldn't leave him alone. He'd argued with her, pleaded with her, threatened her, and tried to distract her with a half-hearted seduction but she'd stayed rooted in her seat.

That's about all she remembers. The truth is that about ten minutes after he stopped trying to persuade her to go to bed she'd closed her eyes and nearly fallen right out of the chair and onto the floor. He'd barely caught her in time. He'd carried her to their room and dumped her as gently as possible on the bed. As he knew she might wake up shortly and wander groggily back to the study, he laid down by her side to make sure she was completely out, planning to return to work the moment he was certain. He woke up hours later at dawn, kissed her forehead, quickly dressed and made his way to Minister Kuo's office for the first reports of the day.

"Where's Zuko?" She asks Sokka as she splashes cool water on her face.

"He's been in the conference room or in his study all day. He had some scribes try to hunt down Lily's real identity. That's who he was with at lunch. Maybe they came up with something." He shrugs.

"Hm." She muses. "They were already doing that. He must have set more people to it." She pulls water through the air from a pitcher into her mouth and swishes it around. She gargles, Sokka grimaces and she spits in the basin.

"I'm getting dressed. Wait for me." She hurries into the dressing room but sticks her head out. "Could you ring for the maid and ask her to bring me some food? She knows what I like." She disappears behind the door and Sokka sighs dramatically.

He goes to the rope and pulls it hard, knowing the maid is most likely just down the hall and he could just as easily have stuck his head out the door and waved her down. But these people use bell pulls and send one servant to find another servant to do something the first servant is somehow unqualified to do. It's baffling. And encourages all sorts of mischief when things are peaceful and boring.

Things right now are anything but peaceful and boring.

He grumbles to himself because it passes the time while he waits for the maid to appear.

---------------------------------------------------------------

"We could leave." Taoki suggests quietly as he and Kenya wait for Minister Kuo to come to them with more statements.

The hours have been long. For most of the night they had transcribed and organized notes on the murders of the three men in the house where Yukio was known to have been. Neither one slept much after that.

And when they awoke they were in the same situation as the night before. More eyewitness statements and more exclusion from the actual investigation. It's frustrating to them to know that Prince Yukio – to whom they have officially sworn fealty – is out in the world living as a fugitive with a girl who may or may not be an enemy.

"I know we could leave. But if we do we can never come back." Kenya mumbles as he leans his head back against the wall. "Even if he does."

Minister Kuo's office door opens and pages are thrust into the pale teenagers' hands. The door closes just as quickly as it had been opened.

"May as well get back to it." Taoki sighs as he stands, rolling the papers into a cone in one hand.

"Do we _want_ to come back? That's the question." Kenya says as they walk toward their rooms.

"If Yukio never returns, I think we'd have to leave." Taoki says thoughtfully. "Our overriding loyalty is to the Fire Lord, but Prince Yukio is our direct liege."

"How long do we wait before we're sure he's not coming back?" Kenya asks, rubbing the back of his neck.

"A month at least. If the Fire Lord disowns him before then, I guess we'll go." Taoki says and his brother nods.

---------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh good, I was hoping you'd get here in time to hear this." Zuko says to Katara when she enters the conference room.

Five scribes sit at the table with stacks of papers, a few scrolls and some portraits spread out in front of them.

"Well, I didn't mean to sleep so long." She blushes as she returns bows to all the scribes and Minister Kuo.

Taking a seat opposite Zuko and the minister she fixes her attention on the proceedings as Sokka sits beside her.

"We think we have her identity, but it's complicated." Zuko tells them. "She seems to be the orphaned daughter of a baron."

"How did she end up with Kim and Tinn's family?" Katara asks.

"It seems Tao Wu, the children's father, worked as a scribe for Baron Taizin. He was there the day her brothers abandoned her and he took her home with him. The other servants asked him to keep her safe." Minister Kuo explains this part of the story.

"Safe from who? Her brothers abandoned her?" Katara is appalled.

"Baron Taizin was one of the first nobles to publicly support Iroh." Zuko says. "The very night after he came out with his endorsement, he and his wife were murdered in their bed. It was a coordinated attack with two other barons and their wives also killed the same night. Baron Taizin had two teenaged sons and an eight-year-old daughter named Li-Lai. One of the sons was seventeen and the other was nineteen." Zuko looks to a scribe for confirmation and receives a nod. "They blamed Iroh for not protecting their parents and joined the insurgency."

"Leaving their little sister behind all alone. Disgusting on so many levels." The princess is not impressed.

"I agree. But actually…" Zuko begins but stops when the door is opened and Ty Lee and Aang step through it.

"I thought you left early this morning!" Katara lumbers out of her chair, or tries to before she's stopped by Ty Lee's swiftness in coming to her instead.

"We had a couple of things we needed to do before leaving." Aang says somewhat stiffly with a glance at Zuko.

"What?" Katara asks looking from one to the other.

"We thought it might be a good idea … that is … I thought … " Aang clears his throat.

"Actually, I was the one who brought it up … " Zuko begins and then looks helplessly at Ty Lee who looks at the ceiling instead of getting involved.

"It's really not safe here for you and …" Aang picks up the dropped ball and haltingly runs with it.

"We … I … thought you should probably…" Zuko once again looks to Ty Lee for support and receives the back of her head as she pours herself some tea.

"It would only be…" Aang stammers nervously.

"No!" Katara erupts. "I'm not going with you." And to her husband. "I can't believe you would even suggest such a thing. I'm not going halfway across the world so I can have this baby in a strange place where you won't be." She looks around at the faces in the room. Wide-eyes blink back at her. "That _is_ what you were about to suggest isn't it?"

"You need to consider it Katara." Zuko says firmly. "You would be safe with them and I wouldn't have to worry about you."

"You don't have to worry about me _now_. I'm armed. I have a group of guards following me everywhere I go these days, even in the family wing of the palace for spirit's sake!" She considers freezing him to something to prove how _not_ helpless she is, but realizes in the nick of time what an incredibly bad idea that actually is.

"We just want you to be completely out of harm's way, Katara." Ty Lee says softly. "You should consider it."

It's Ty Lee's simple explanation that makes Katara think twice. But no more than twice. She's not going. It's an easy decision because there is no choice. She won't go because she can't.

"No. But thank you." She smiles lovingly at them. "Don't ask me again please because I'm not changing my mind. Excuse me." She gets up and leaves the room.

"Masterfully done." Sokka says admiringly.

"She's been taking lessons from Ahni." Zuko says to his brother-in-law.

"I recognized the technique immediately." Sokka nods.

"Excuse me." Zuko rises and follows Katara.

---------------------------------------------------------------

She'd like to apologize for being so rude earlier. Now that her stomach is not so empty Lily's attitude has improved immeasurably. There doesn't seem to be a good moment to broach the subject though. The prince has been silent throughout their meal and the tension between them grows.

They've found a tiny teashop that serves a hot meal and they're sitting across from each other at a table in the corner. The walls are decorated with nautical themes from all the nations, obviously catering to all who make port on this side of the harbor. Nobody seems to have taken the disheveled teenagers as anything but weary travelers and they've been left alone but for a couple of refills of their shared pot of ginseng tea.

"Are we going to spend the night in Ba Sing Se?" Lily finally asks.

"I don't think so." He says and returns to his meal.

"Here in the port?"

"I haven't decided."

"Oh."

Lily has been expecting Yukio to begin hating her at some point. She wishes she hadn't been so horrible after their arrival, but looking back she knows she was just a hair shy of hysterical at the time so at this point all she can do is hope it didn't do irreparable damage. She'd hoped he would take a day or two to realize how much he's given up for her and how little she's returned the favor. She'd hoped for just enough time to get settled and then he could leave and hate her and she would never trouble him again.

But she can feel his hostility growing with every minute that passes. At this rate he'll leave her stranded in the middle of the road and take his gold coin-laden tunic to the first Fire Nation vessel he finds to hitch a ride home.

"Finished?" He asks her, breaking through her depressing thoughts.

"Uh … yeah." She says. She could probably stuff some more food in but her appetite has flown and she'd rather keep what's already in there down for a while.

"We have to get a few other things." He announces as he pays for the meal and heads for the door.

Lily follows him dutifully. He's got some plan and she's feeling lucky to be included for the moment; hopeful his agenda doesn't include turning her in to the authorities as his second thoughts truly take hold.

-------------------------------------------------------------

"Katara," Zuko catches up to his surprisingly speedy wife and stops her. As expected her face is flushed with anger and her eyes are flashing blue ice.

"How could you send me away?" She asks, her voice shaking. "Am I that much of a burden?"

"No!" He replies shocked. "Of course you're not a burden!"

"You said you wanted me to go so you wouldn't have to worry about me." She seethes.

"I didn't mean it like that!"

"Then please tell me how you _did_ mean it!"

Zuko puts his hands on her rigid shoulders, willing her to look him in the eye.

"There's a handful of people I trust to keep you safe. The avatar, Sokka, Toph, Vallon, Bokkusu and me. Sokka's job right now is to keep Ahni safe. Vallon and Toph are working with Bokkusu on the investigation and searching for my stupid cousin and I can't spare them. Aang's the only one left."

"There's you." Katara says edgily.

"I'm in no condition right now to ensure your safety." He says gruffly.

"There's me."

"Fighting isn't good for the baby remember?" He says sympathetically. As soft and beautiful as she is, she's got a warrior's heart and running away hasn't been a consideration for a long time. "If you're completely removed from the danger we take that risk out of the equation too."

"So you're sending me away." She says miserably, recognizing a foregone conclusion when she hears one.

"No!" He surprises her by snapping his denial. "If I was _sending_ you away you'd be on that bison right now, halfway to the Air Temple. Give me _some_ credit for taking your opinion into account."

"I don't want to go." She says firmly. "I can't be so far away from you when this baby's born. I'd be isolated from everything. And if I'm gone who's going to keep _you_ safe? Who's going to be your peaceful place?"

"My what?"

Katara's eyes go wide for a second and Zuko knows she's just let something slip.

"Explain 'peaceful place.'" He takes her elbow and maneuvers her to a bench, seating her gently before sitting himself.

"It's nothing. Just something I came up with." She explains, looking up at him, but keeping her eyes firmly on his crown rather than his face.

Zuko laughs for the first time in days.

_And they say _I'm_ a terrible liar._

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That night the storms set in. The ships at sea are forced to slow their progress and deal with the massive gusts of wind and giant waves swamping the decks.

"It's like the spirits are against me." Bokkusu grumbles to Chin who has volunteered to take the team to the Earth Kingdom.

"It's not about you Bokkusu." Chin says dryly.

The box man gifts his friend with a small chuckle.

"How long do you expect this to set us back?" He asks.

"Half a day I suppose." The commander replies, rechecking his charts and reading the latest reports from the engine room.

Toph makes her way woozily onto the bridge. Bokkusu quickly pulls her over to a chair, not caring whether he offends her or not.

"I'm not feeling well." She groans.

"Are you going to throw up?" Chin asks glancing around for a receptacle that isn't bolted down.

"I might. I just needed some air and I thought I might be safer up here with you knuckleheads than out on the deck with the waves and the wind." Ever the diplomat, Toph smirks weakly, her face alarmingly pallid.

"You're not pregnant are you?" Chin asks bluntly.

"Chin!" Bokkusu scolds his friend.

"She's never been seasick before." The commander says defensively.

"I'm not and yes I do get seasick. I also get flying bison sick. You just haven't seen me during a storm like this before." She laughs suddenly. "But thanks for thinking me that liberated. I'm flattered." She continues chuckling as she slides down to her knees, crawls over to the wastebasket and throws up.

----------------------------------------------------------------

As the rain starts to drizzle on the shutters of the tiny room at the Portside Inn Yukio empties bags of supplies onto the floor. He's gotten them some soap, a couple of blankets, some cheap canvas packs and various other traveling items. He picks up a pair of scissors, the most expensive thing he's purchased.

"We need to cut our hair. Change our appearance." He tells Lily watching for dissent.

"Okay." She shrugs. She hasn't had a haircut in years. Nothing more than a trim since she was taken to live with the airbender family. For the same reason. To change her appearance. To keep enemies from finding her.

"Do you want to do mine first?" He asks.

"No. You can do mine." She says quietly positioning herself in front of him. "Just not too short. It's so thick it makes me look like a mushroom when it's short." At least it did when she was eight, she remembers.

"I have to make you look different." He says apologetically as he puts the shears to her hair and the first long lock falls away.

He doesn't see her wince and bite her lip with each snip.

She doesn't see him catch a bundle and stuff it quickly into his pocket.

"We're not staying in Ba Sing Se?" She asks him as he continues cutting.

"No. The Fire Nation embassy here is too big. There are too many people who could recognize me and who would have a notice about you. We're going to the Omashu province instead. I think I know a place where you'll be safe." He explains, eyeing the shaggy mop he's creating on her head and wondering how he can successfully keep her away from mirrors until he's well out of range.

"Where?"

"Huh?" He's a little distracted by the atrocity he's perpetrating on her appearance.

"Where will I be safe?" She asks.

He stands back and surveys his work of art.

"Have you ever heard of the Kyoshi Warriors?" He asks her with a grin.

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**A/N2:** I promise we'll get more action in the next chapter. I really looked for a spot to put in a physical altercation, but it would have been a lay-on, so I had to go with what was happening organically.

Thanks for reading!

MacFie xoxo


	20. Conniption

**AN:** I know I promised action this chapter but the sillies seem to have gotten hold of me instead.

Enjoy.

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**Conniption**

"You're still reading the same report you were reading when I left here an hour ago." Sokka leans in the doorway to Zuko's study, watching his brother-in-law pore over the small bit of information he has as if somehow the answers will come to him by magic.

"I know. It makes me feel like I'm doing something." The Fire Lord sighs and leans his head back on his chair.

"Well here's something you can _actually_ do." Sokka steps aside and a servant enters bearing a large tray with a carafe of sake two cups and an assortment of snacks.

"What did you have in mind?" Zuko narrows his eyes at the tray and then at the man in the doorway.

"You need to get drunk Zuko." Sokka informs him.

"This is _not_ the time!" The expected refusal comes in a huff.

"It's the perfect time. You've got Minister Kuo on the case. Katara's snug in her bed with guards watching all the entrances to the bedroom, Bokkusu's headed to the Earth Kingdom to pick up Yukio and Vallon's on his way to Imiyo on a wasted trip." Sokka pours from the carafe.

"You don't think Yukio's in Imiyo either?" Zuko is never surprised by Sokka's shrewdness.

"No I don't. From what I've been told the Earth Kingdom ship was the closest besides the party craft. I myself would have taken the party craft, but Yukio is boring so he would take a cargo ship." Sokka intones knowledgeably. "Besides, even if I thought he might be in Imiyo I'd have changed my mind by now. Bokkusu would be on his way to your beloved little port town instead of the Earth Kingdom. At first I wondered why you put Vallon on a perfunctory search here in the Fire Nation since he's one of your best people and then I realized Imiyo's the perfect location for another cell. That's Vallon's real mission, isn't it?" Sokka hands over a full, warm cup.

"You peasants are always smarter than you look." Zuko takes a sip. "So why don't you solve the rest of my problems for me while I get completely soused?"

"Nah. This time I'm not solving problems. Just identifying them and providing commentary." He sighs contentedly and sits back in a comfortable chair letting his long legs stretch out sloppily in front of him.

"How about giving me some advice on how to survive the birth of my child." The request itself isn't a surprise, just the timing.

"So that's weighing on your mind too?" Sokka's eyebrows rise. No wonder his brother-in-law looks like a cornered raccoon-buffalo.

"I haven't gone one hour without thinking about it since she told me she was expecting." Zuko replies wearily.

"I wish I could tell you I handled it with stoic fortitude, but you saw me. I was a basket case."

"Lu Ten's mother died in childbirth. Kim and Tinn's mother. Chin's wife too, and that time the baby died as well." Zuko runs a hand through his hair, upsetting his topknot and crown enough that he just pulls the whole contraption out.

"I didn't know Chin was married!" Sokka's shocked. The commander has never mentioned his widower status.

"It was a long time ago. They were both only eighteen. His father arranged the marriage after he'd been forced to marry his daughter off to an abusive noble. He wanted to make a good marriage for his son so he couldn't be forced into something ugly later on." Zuko explains.

"Why would he be forced into something ugly?" Sokka's heard about Chin's sister and knows the commander's family had been lower nobility. But there would be no political benefit in marrying the son of a lesser baron. It seems like Chin would have difficulty finding a girl of his rank who would actually be allowed to be matched with him. Why in the world would he be _forced_ into a union?

"Chin was a standout even when he was a kid." Zuko responds. "Always first. Always popular. A firebender. Nobles looking to strengthen their physical bloodline more than their political line can be particularly vicious in getting what they want."

"They wanted him for stud?" Sokka chokes on his sake. The tastelessness of the nobility in both the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation never ceases to amaze him.

"Pretty much." Zuko answers. "So his dad set him up with a nice girl from a nice family when he was just a kid. Years later Chin got married, spent a week with his wife and then he was back on the ship. My ship. Not long after that he got word his wife was pregnant."

"He was in exile with you?"

Zuko nods, refilling his cup. "Kind of. My crew had leave privileges to come back to the Fire Nation. Uncle did too while we were on the ship. Everyone did but me."

There's an awkward silence where Sokka simply doesn't know what to say. It would be nice to be able to make a sarcastic comment but the truth is Zuko's banishment was the catalyst for a whole lot of trouble for the Water Tribe siblings and the avatar. It caused the former prince quite a bit of pain and grief as well. Of course, without it Katara wouldn't be married to him and carrying their … Sokka takes another stiff drink.

"Iroh had to tell him when we got word his wife and child had died." Zuko continues. "She died shortly after the birth and then the baby died a few hours later. I know Chin wasn't in love with her, he barely knew her, but he sure hasn't made a move to get married again. He's almost thirty you know. His wife's death probably saved him from going to the North Pole with Zhao though. He might have been killed there."

Sokka shudders. What an awful event _that _was. He downs his newly filled cup of rice wine in one gulp and refills it.

Gulping sake is not advised for simple sobriety reasons and is probably the worst way to enjoy the wine, but Sokka's mission tonight _is_ to get inebriated with his brother-in-law. But just because it's rather fine sake and not least of all because he's already feeling the effects, he slows down with a tiny sip from the ceramic cup. He intends to last the night.

"So getting back to the subject at hand," Sokka picks up the conversation, "you're concentrating on these tragedies instead of remembering that _your_ mother didn't die in childbirth and neither did Katara's and mine. Ahni didn't. Five times she didn't. Neither did thousands and thousands of other women in the past year." Sokka says.

"But a lot of women _did_." Zuko says taking another healthy drink. "And they're the ones I can't stop thinking about."

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"You layered it." Lily is sitting on the bed, looking into a hand mirror when Yukio returns from the privy to their tiny room at the inn in the little harbor village.

"I'm sorry." He says sheepishly, waiting for the explosion.

She really does look ridiculous. Her hair is thick and wavy, but without actual curl. He'd tried to keep it from looking like a 'mushroom' as she'd requested, but had instead succeeded in making her look like she has some kind of exotic plant on her head with fronds shooting every which way.

"I don't know what to say." She breathes, still staring into the mirror.

"I'll buy you a hat tomorrow." He promises.

"If I'm going to wear a hat I could have left my hair the way it was." She says, her voice tight.

He expects her to glare at him or scream or something. But instead she starts to shake. _Convulsions of fury?_ He wonders briefly before she suddenly squeaks and then laughs out loud. She puts her hand to her hair, tries to push it down and it pops back up as if it has a mind of its own. She repeats the motion on different parts of her head with similar results and finally grabs herself around the middle as if she's been kicked and shudders with silent, but uncontrollable laughter, punctuated by unladylike snorts.

Yukio at first watches her in alarm but then joins in as quietly as possible. He doesn't want to distract her from her meltdown, she seems to be having such a good time, but she looks so funny every time she pushes a lock of hair down only to have it spring back up he has to laugh too.

Tears streaming down her face as she tries to pull herself together, Lily looks at the prince and loses it again. His hair is shorter than it was, but still long enough to pull into a topknot. He'd requested that and she'd complied. What's making her laugh is the pathetic, remorseful look he's plastered on his face as he tries not to laugh overtly. He certainly doesn't look like a prince now. And with the scabbed-over scrape on his cheek he looks like an urchin who just got caught picking the pocket of the chief of police.

"I thought you might kill me when you saw it." He says once she's quieted down a bit.

"What?" She takes a deep breath and lets it stutter out slowly. "Of course I wouldn't. Why would I expect you to know how to cut hair?" She giggles, looking in the mirror one more time before setting it face down on the table by the bed.

"I was trying to make it look nice." He admits.

This of course launches her into more shrieks of laughter and he finally just focuses on setting out his pallet for sleeping. He tries to ignore her as she periodically reins in her mirth only to lose it again, but it's impossible and his face burns with embarrassment at having done such a ridiculous thing. As he smoothes out his blanket his lips tighten with irritation. Nobody likes being the brunt of the joke.

"I almost wish you _would_ yell at me." He mutters.

Realizing she's gone over the line yet again, she gathers all her strength and quells the spasms of laughter still shaking her body.

"I'm sorry." She wipes her eyes. "Really. I'm a little hysterical, that's all." She explains.

She surreptitiously watches him as she readies herself for sleeping.

_Your first friend and you can't keep from infuriating him for more than five minutes._

"I really don't mind." She says as she lies down on the bed and pulls the blanket over herself.

"I can see that." He says curtly.

"Goodnight." She says quietly.

"Goodnight." He replies snuffing out the lamp and plunging them into darkness.

As they lay there silently for what seems the better part of an hour but in reality is only about five minutes, Lily listens for his breathing to become slow and even, convinced she'll be awake all night thinking about all the mistakes she's made as she's struggled her way to this point.

Yukio listens for Lily's breathing to even out, certain he'll never get to sleep with all the plans he's still trying to make.

Before long they are both snoring quietly with only their dreams to listen for.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"And so I asked Chin," Sokka can barely get the words out, "can male firebenders shoot flames from their …er … pump handles?" He finishes off another cup of sake. "You should have seen his face! It looked like yours does right now!" He guffaws loudly.

"That's ridiculous!" Zuko says, his brain creating the image without his consent and an alarmed scowl crossing his face.

"What? It's a possibility." Sokka says sounding defensive.

"Why in the world would you allow me to marry your sister if you thought something like that?"

It takes Sokka a moment for _his_ brain to sketch out the unwanted image and the sudden horrified expression that takes over his face is so extreme it causes Zuko to bark out a laugh at the very moment he was trying to swallow his sake.

Which causes the wine to come out of his nose.

Which causes Sokka to laugh drunkenly at the Fire Lord's sake-drooling nose and end up with a lap full of the rice wine he's just poured into his cup.

Which causes Zuko to laugh again while he's trying to blow any remaining wine into a handkerchief so it comes out a very inelegant, truncated snort.

Which causes Sokka to howl again.

Which causes…

"What are you two cackling about?" Comes the princess's sleepy, irate voice at the door.

"Zuko's nose … the sake … firebending pump handles…" Sokka hiccups the worst explanation ever.

"Well shut up. I'm trying to sleep." She grouchily turns and disappears down the hall a couple of guards following sheepishly a safe distance behind.

Sokka looks at Zuko with round eyes. They're in trouble. You just don't wake a sleeping pregnant lady.

"She told you to shut up." Sokka points his finger at his intoxicated friend.

"You too." He gripes in return.

Which causes Sokka to laugh.

Which causes Zuko to desperately try _not_ to laugh.

Which causes Sokka to laugh even louder.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bokussu watches the sunrise from the bow of the ship. The Earth Kingdom can be seen etched on the morning sky in the distance.

"How much longer?" He grumbles at Chin.

"We have to wait for harbor permission. A lot of ships were delayed by the storm and we didn't have prior clearance. We should be in by noon." The commander responds calmly.

"Noon!?" The boxman overreacts.

"Nothing we can do about it Bokkusu. Have some breakfast and relax. We'll find them. A kid like Yukio doesn't walk down the street without people noticing." Chin claps his friend on the shoulder.

Bokkusu glares at the commander grumpily and is met with an unimpressed smirk as Chin turns and walks back toward the bridge.

The boxman sighs, turns his attention back to the Earth Kingdom and grinds his teeth.

When he catches up to the prince it will not be pretty.

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Lily approaches Yukio who awaits her in front of the inn. The mid-morning bustle of the busy harbor town is twice what it should be with as many delayed ships as possible entering the port at the same time.

Yukio stands with his foot propped up on the stoop twirling a colorful hat on his finger.

"Is that for me?" She asks hopefully. It's nothing fancy but the colors are nice and wearing it will be a lot better than putting up with the pitying stares she's just received on her way to the street.

"Yep. It was the only one for ladies that had a little reddish color in it." Yukio points to a design in the fabric of the hat. "The others were all green." He adds pointedly.

"Dirt Land color." Lily nods as she pulls the hat over her abused coif. He nods in agreement and examines her appearance.

"Hey! That looks good!" Yukio grins. He's telling the truth. She does look rather adorable in the cap.

"Don't think I don't trust you, but I'll need to see a mirror before I thank you." She says with a twinkle in her eye.

"Oh I'd think you were crazy if you didn't. We'll stop by the shop where I bought it on the way out of town. They had a lot of mirrors there." He pulls something from his pocket. "Which is why I ended up buying this too." He fits a cap of his own over his raggedly shorn locks.

"I didn't do such a terrible…" She doesn't even finish. He looks better in the hat too.

A few minutes later she eyes herself in a mirror at the clothing shop where Yukio made his purchases. She's impressed with how different she's made her appearance just by covering her thick, dark hair. She begins to believe she can blend in. Actually disappear.

"How will we get to Kyoshi Island?" Lily asks him.

"We aren't going to Kyoshi Island. Just to the Omashu province. There are Kyoshi Warriors there too." He says as he walks toward the arch that leads away from the harbor village and the shadows of Ba Sing Se. "They set up units in a few different spots in the Earth Kingdom after the war. Not here though. They didn't get along so well with the Dai Li."

"Oh. So we're walking?" Not a pleasant prospect but doable.

"Part of the way. Why? Your feet sore?" He smirks.

"No. I'm just wondering how long before you go back to the Fire Nation." She replies nonchalantly.

"Ah, so eager to be rid of me." He laughs. "Well you won't be stuck with me for long. We'll be there inside of a week. Once you're set up with the Kyoshi Warriors I'll turn myself in and then you can breathe easy. I won't bother you anymore after that." 

That stops her. _Turn myself in_.

She had been planning on finding a moment to thank him today. She's actually prepared a little speech to let him know how much she appreciates his help even though she fought it for so long.

But she hasn't been thinking in terms of him being arrested at the end of it all. The understanding has always been there that they are fugitives at the moment. But one doesn't always see the prison tower at the completion of the adventure, even when it's the only logical end.

Every day that passes, every hour, puts him deeper in jeopardy. He could end up in prison for the rest of his life at this rate. Lily can't stand the thought of such a free spirit behind bars. Someone who has done so much more for her than she deserves.

"I think you should go to the Fire Nation embassy now. You don't need to travel with me. Just point me in the right direction and give me a letter of introduction to the Kyoshi Warriors." Lily says suddenly.

"I've never actually _met_ them." He informs her. "I just know about them. If Prince Yukio gives you a letter of introduction you'll be arrested. I'm working on another idea to get you in."

"Well then there's no reason for you to be there at all." She says triumphantly.

She's prepared to argue for a good long time to make him comply.

"Don't be ridiculous." He grumbles and pulls her along.

"No." She pulls back and he turns to her. "I think you should go back to Ba Sing Se and let me go on alone. I'm not as helpless as you think."

"Nobody said you were helpless." He snarls at her. "You think I haven't considered sending you on alone? I have and I've rejected the idea. End of argument."

End of argument.

He turns and pulls her by her arm, not letting go until she stops pulling back and matches his stride.

She smiles despite her misgivings and guilt. She hadn't really wanted him to leave her. She sobers as her thoughts intrude.

_Don't get attached._

She's been demanding that of herself since the first night he visited her in the prison.

And she's been failing.

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**A/N 2:** Lu Ten's mother dying in childbirth is just a supposition on my part. It's not actually in canon.

And secondly, I obviously am a fan of OCs mingling with canon characters in fan fiction so here are some plugs of other fics that meet that criterion:

_Broken Wing_ – by Taffy0823 – fits into Season 1 canon and includes Jet and his freedom fighters, Zuko and Iroh. The lead OC is a beautifully written teenaged girl from the Water Tribe who has a very big secret.

_Walking a Wire_ – by NullChronicler – fits into Season 3 canon. You'll see Ty Lee, Mai, Zuko, Azula, and more canon characters. The lead OC in this story is a fascinating character who is a master firebender climbing his way up the Fire Nation military ladder. This is a Ty Lee OC story and it should be getting more attention.

_Shattered_ and _Erosion_ – by Magnusrae – companion pieces that fit into Season 1. The OC in these stories is a woman who (in _Shattered_) takes care of a very distraught and injured Zuko, saving his life in several different ways. _Erosion_ is her background story. There is no actual romance in these two fics – just adventure and friendship. These are amazing stories and I really can't recommend them highly enough.

Please read these OC centered fics and leave reviews for the authors. Everyone needs some feedback – even on completed stories. They can all be found on my favorites list in my profile.

Thanks for reading!

MacFie xoxo


	21. Agreement

**A/N:** I've been gone a while. A quick read of the last chapter would probably be a good idea.

Word of Warning: Heavy OC action here. Although a certain beloved couple also appears we are definitely looking at an OC-heavy chapter.

Thanks for reading.

MacFie xoxo

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**Agreement**

"We're just waiting on permits for questioning." Chin tells Bokkusu solemnly.

"I figured as much." The box man grumbles.

"You didn't explode." Does the commander sound disappointed?

"I'm a mature adult, Chin." Bokkusu says tightly. "I wouldn't want Earth Kingdom security agents coming to the Fire Nation to question our citizens without permission and I'll give them the same respect I demand."

The ship is in the harbor and Chin has just spent about an hour in the office of the Harbor Master. He won't tell Bokkusu that the permit at first was denied pending a five-day waiting period.

The commander had explained the situation as well as he could without giving the specific detail that representatives of the Fire Nation had rushed to the Earth Kingdom's shores in search of their egregiously errant prince. How embarrassing that would be for the Fire Lord.

Giving the impression of grave danger and a possible contagious illness carried by one or both of the fugitives, Chin was able to secure an immediate permit.

Naturally _immediate _means _in a few hours_ but he's happy with what he was able to get.

"Do you want to hear some of the gossip I heard in the village?" Chin asks his friend.

"Of course." The rumbling reply.

"Two teenagers spent last night at the inn. They bought supplies and headed out of the village on foot. Away from Ba Sing Se. A boy and a girl. The shopkeeper where the boy bought two hats was fairly certain they were Fire Nation by the look of them."

Bokkusu stares at the commander.

"Did you question them?" The box man asks wondering why they need permits if Chin can just gather all the information they need by simply walking into town.

"No. They were friendly and asked what brought me to the Earth Kingdom. I told them. They volunteered the information. I didn't ask even one question." Chin smiles, proud of himself.

"So they were on foot?' Bokkusu rubs his chin.

"That's what I was told. " Chin responds.

"Anything else?" The box man asks.

"They had bad haircuts."

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"Surely they don't expect me to allow my daughter to go off alone to the palace!" Baron Cho Sung rants irritably.

A small palanquin has been brought to their door to carry Lin to the Fire Lord's residence. She's been invited to play for a small gathering of women being held by the princess. Life seems to be going on as usual for the royal family, even in Prince Yukio's absence.

"I won't have it!" He declares. Neither he nor Bai nor Dozo will fit in the palanquin with her. Not that any of them were invited. He could send a maid, but what good will that do? He needs someone who will be able to keep his eyes and ears open in the palace. Lin is decidedly unqualified for that job.

"Father, I can't keep them w-waiting." She says softly. "I promise I w-won't shame you." She looks up at him with shining eyes and he visibly softens.

For a nasty man he can be a pushover where his daughter is concerned. Severely disappointed in her obvious deficiencies, he has tried time and again to banish the irritating affection he unwillingly feels for her. She looks so like his wife with whom he was also disappointed. He just can't understand his attachment.

His late wife is virtually unmourned by him. The woman's death had left him with two unruly boys and a defective daughter with few prospects. But he'd pulled something out of the morass and now the flawed child has an opportunity to bring the Cho Sungs into Fire Lord's the inner circle, possibly even the royal family.

She's right. He can't keep them waiting.

"I know you won't shame me." He snaps. "Don't speak to anyone but the princess. Or some other nobility. None of those White Spirits or Water Tribe peasants." He orders as he practically shoves her out the door. A tiny maid goes scurrying after for appearances sake.

"Useless." He grumbles to himself. "Every last one of them is useless."

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Katara calmly approaches Zuko who lays spread eagle on his back in the center of the grassy sparring field. Behind her a coterie of servants and guards carry a small bench, silk cushions, a large basket and some blankets to cover the ground.

After the bench is prepared Katara sits and looks down at her husband. He squints up at her, not saying a word.

"Hello." She smiles.

"Hello." He responds drowsily.

"You woke me up when you came to bed last night." Katara gently scolds him.

"Sorry. I tried not to."

"No you didn't try not to," she smirks, "you stuck your tongue in my ear."

"I did?"

"Don't you remember what happened next?" She asks him meaningfully.

He thinks about it as he continues to squint up at her. She shifts her position so her shadow falls over his face and he sighs.

"I hope if it was something really interesting I _would_ remember." He finally admits.

"You rolled over and started snoring." She jabs his rib with her foot.

"I don't snore." He declares haughtily.

"Why do people always say that?" Katara wonders aloud.

"Because they're being wrongly accused?" He suggests.

"_Sokka_ says it." A musical laugh escapes.

"I'm sorry I woke you up." He gracelessly concedes defeat by changing the subject.

"You've missed all your morning meetings." She tells him.

"I know." He closes his eyes.

"You didn't even meet with Minister Kuo." Her brow furrows.

"I know."

"You've given up?" She cocks her head to the side, trying to read him.

He perks up, opening his eyes and smiling. "Is that an option?"

"No." She says regretfully.

"Pity." He closes his eyes again. "I guess I haven't then."

"Well, I just wanted to make sure you're alive. I'll go back now." She doesn't actually move from the bench though.

"Wait!" His eyes snap open and he looks as much like a young boy as she's ever seen him. Except for the weary desperation in his golden gaze that twists her heart.

"I'm not going anywhere." She sighs and signals to her entourage. They immediately begin spreading the blankets and setting up a picnic lunch.

"Will you lay down with me?" He asks her.

"After lunch." She smiles.

He lets out a sigh of long suffering.

"Shh." She orders abruptly as she motions to two large firebenders who immediately walk over and pull their Fire Lord to his feet.

"You're bossy." Zuko grumbles, swaying for a moment before regaining his balance and reaching out a hand to help her rise from the bench.

"And you love it." She grins and takes his hand, her eyes shining into his.

"Spirits help me." He mutters, his lips twitching into his sweetest smile.

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"Well that was fun." Yukio says laughing.

"It was!" Lily declares excitedly.

Their legs swing off the edge of a wooden cart loaded with mangoes, watermelons and three stacks of caged canary frogs.

"Where'd you two learn to fight like that?" The farmer driving the cart asks over his shoulder.

"My … cousin." Yukio says.

"My … step-father." Lily says at the same time.

"Well they sure taught ya good." The old man shakes his head.

Yukio and Lily had realized they were being followed about a mile and a half outside of the harbor village. They'd quietly agreed to duck into the bushes to see if they were actually being pursued or if their suspicions were simply falling on some innocent travelers.

Sure enough, as they waited in the foliage, four tough looking young men came around the bend, discussing how they planned to jump the two younger teens.

After the bullies had passed Yukio and Lily stepped out of the brush.

"Hey!" Yukio barked at them.

The expressions on the other boys' faces were worth paying for.

"Hey yourself." One of them aggressively replied.

"Hand it over." Another ordered as the gang advanced on the two Fire Nation teens.

"What?" Yukio narrowed his eyes at them.

"Your money." One of the bullies responded as if he felt the younger boy was an idiot. "I saw you in Cha Ling's shop with gold pieces to spare. Hand 'em over." He continued to stalk forward, full of confidence.

"Look," the prince's voice was conciliatory, "my sister here is sick. She's not right in the head. We only have enough to get us to Gaoling. I can't take care of her without the little bit of money we have." He glanced over at Lily knowing she'd play along.

The first thing she did to shore up his story was to take her hat off. Yukio bit back a hard laugh.

"Where are my pinecones?!" Lily cried in a panicked voice as she peered into her hat.

"See? Now look what you did." He groused at the thieves as he went to Lily and patted her gently on the shoulder.

"My pinecones are gone! Did you steal my pinecones?" She asked him plaintively.

"Hand over the money and we won't hurt your crazy sister." The lead bully growled thinking he'd found a weak spot.

"Please don't hurt her!" Yukio had to suppress a spark of fury that they would actually consider hurting a helpless girl. Even though she wasn't actually helpless at all and the oafs were about to learn that in a brutal fashion.

It still ticked him off.

The four thieves continued their advance, pouring on the menace. One of them pulled out a pair of nunchakas and started twirling them around in fancy maneuvers, nearly swiping a fellow thief in the head. The near victim of the weapon moved to the side to give his mate more room. Once again Yukio had to contain his laughter.

"Hand over your money and we won't make you watch what we do to her." The leader growled nastily.

It was that comment that had sealed his fate.

Yukio held out a shaking hand, palm up. A single shining gold piece glinted in the sun. The tremors in the prince's arm grew until he dropped the coin on the ground. He bent quickly to pick it up.

"So sorry." He said squeakily as he squatted near the ground and dropped his hand beside Lily's foot. She stepped into his palm, her knees bent, and he rose quickly, his legs like pistons, flinging her high into the air where she kicked off a tree and landed just behind their attackers.

"Wha…" The leader was stunned.

The two thieves closest to Lily were stupid enough to think it was a joke and that her brother liked to throw his deranged, pinecone obsessed sister around. They continued to think that even as she knocked the first one to his knees with the blade of her foot.

His nunchakas went flying.

Yukio took the yelp of surprised pain as a signal to begin. He rushed the two who faced him, grabbed their tunics at the neck, pulled them forward and jumped on top, one foot on each back. Their faces squashed into the dirt and Yukio reached down to grab the waistband of their pants.

He pulled.

With all his might.

Meanwhile Lily had managed to lead her opponents on a chase toward the forest. At first Yukio was concerned and wondered why such a skilled fighter would run away.

And then she headed straight for a large tree, running up the trunk about six feet. Her pursuers stopped short. But not short enough. One of them howled in pain as he smacked the side of the tree nose-first.

Once again Lily was behind them and she spun around with a hook kick catching one of them in the backside. She followed up with a round house gracing the second pursuer with a kick in the pants.

Now they were furious.

"She's not a mental defective!!" One of them howled as if Yukio had somehow cheated.

"Thank you." She said sweetly just before clipping him in the mouth and sending him sprawling with a strong right jab.

Yukio's opponents were scrambling to pull their garments to rights, kicking out their legs and twisting the cloth just as the old farmer's cart rambled around the bend and pulled to a creaky stop.

A snorting roar came from one of the toughs and the scoundrel charged the prince like a buffalo boar.

As bone-crunching contact was about to be made, Yukio ducked low to the ground, catching his attacker at the knees. The behemoth fell forward just as Yukio sprang up with surprising strength tossing the miscreant into the air like a sack of dirty laundry.

The big oaf landed on his friend and neither of them rose again.

Checking in with Lily Yukio asked her if she needed help. She was driving her second opponent back with jabbing punches and front kicks maneuvering him exactly where she wanted him.

The hapless attacker tripped backward over his friend's unconscious, heaped carcass.

"No thanks." She answered Yukio, stalking toward the cowering bully.

She pinned the older boy with a hard look.

"Did. You. Steal. My. Pinecones?" She said to the near blubbering combatant with terrifying intensity.

He ran into the woods.

And that was when Farmer Fu offered them a ride to Gaoling.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I th-thought I was to p-play for a group of ladies." Lin haltingly murmurs as a soft pillow is set down on the grass near the royal couple who lounge on a blanket nearby.

"That gathering was cancelled." Katara says. "I hope you don't mind playing for family. We're all under a lot of pressure right now. Your music will be soothing and lift our spirits."

"I d-don't mind." The girl prepares her instrument, as she tries not to look at the Fire Lord. The only time she's ever seen him was at the party. He was so tense he made her jumpy and that's the last thing she wants for this performance. She wants to be invited back. The more often she finds herself in the palace the more likely it is that she'll see Taoki again.

A Water Tribe couple appears, walking lazily over and joining the princess and Fire Lord on the blanket. The Water Tribe woman is carrying the most darling baby and Lin suppresses the urge to coo at its curly hair and bright, seeking eyes.

As the girl puts her flute to her lips a movement in the distance distracts her for just a moment.

The white haired twins are walking toward them.

Taoki is here today.

Lin flushes red and begins to play. She accidentally catches the princess's eye and sees glowing approval. She tries not to improvise a song to fit her mood. Princess Katara had said _soothing_ hadn't she? The way Lin feels right now is anything but soothed.

If anyone were to figure out how she's feeling at this moment they wouldn't be as surprised as she is. She hasn't felt this way since her speech troubles were discovered.

_Soothing_. _They want soothing._

As Taoki comes nearer she sees his beautiful smile focused directly on her. _Her_.

She could dance on the sun.


	22. Voices

**A/N:** This chapter is a little different, but somehow everything that came out of my mind and through my fingertips was reflective. There's some OC focus, but canon characters as well.

I hope you enjoy it.

MacFie xoxo

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XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

**Voices**

She feels the wind, cool and exhilarating on her face. Her body is one with the clouds. Her glider catches the current and soars into the sky; higher and higher she climbs until she arches her back and rolls over and over in backward somersaults back to the temple grounds to land in the soft, clay dust.

Gray eyes snap open and dart around the dark bedchamber in the refurbished Southern Air Temple.

It is deep in the night and there are no wakeful sounds coming from the other inhabitants in the surrounding bedrooms.

Looking over at the form in the bed beside her, Ty Lee almost reaches out but realizes she's swallowing a lump in her throat the size of a fist and she pulls back. She slithers from the bed, and slips silently from the room.

Quickly checking on Kim and Tinn in their room she tiptoes along the corridor until she finds her way out into the night, the fresh, mountain air a vigorous embrace. She stumbles now, eager to be hidden before the tears come and finds herself, as usual, in front of the statue of Gyatso. She knows him, although he died long before she was born. He is always there. Always watching over Aang.

Which is why she invariably goes to him when she cries.

Sinking to the ground at the base of the blessed monk's pedestal she lets loose. Silent sobs rack her body. She clutches herself around her middle like a hug and rocks to and fro with the breeze and the distant sounds of the night.

Aang watches from the shadows. He squashes an impulse to go to her. Those who slip away after others are sleeping want to cry alone. He aches to know why she cries some nights. For her family? For the Fire Nation? For regret? He can't cross the line and intrude on her obvious desire for privacy. He won't make contact.

But he will stand watch.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Taoki looks out at the moon with a stupid smile on his face. He has the ability to smile like an angel, but right now that skill has left the building with his wits.

She kissed him.

_Him_.

As he'd walked her through the palace to her conveyance he'd complimented her music and mused that the royal family would probably invite her back regularly. It was when she shooed her maid into the palanquin and suddenly realized she'd left her flute behind that he knew she was planning something. Lin bade her maid to stay in her seat while she rushed back to get it. He followed her through the doors and …

He didn't make it past the jam before he was pulled around behind the door, and kissed tenderly, if inexpertly, on the lips.

It was her first kiss, he was sure of it.

So he made it better.

He slipped one arm around her waist and pulled her gently against his body while his other hand grazed up her arm and across her shoulder to cradle her head lightly along her jaw. He felt a shudder pass through her and he pressed more firmly against her mouth feeling a gasp against his teeth as he gently pushed past her lips to explore and taste her sweetness.

She'd clung to him, trembling but not with fear. And then she'd raised her arms to his shoulders and wrapped them so tightly around his neck he knew she never wanted to let go.

Because he didn't want to either.

And because from the beginning they've known each other and how it would be.

How many other girls have kissed him since he became one half of the famed 'White Spirits'? Many more than he'd ever thought would cross his path growing up. And who cares if he couldn't even remember their names some of the time? _They_ were kissing _him_.

So he knows how it feels to be kissed. And how it doesn't feel when the person isn't the right one.

And now he knows how it feels when she _is_.

The idiotic grin gets wider and he feels Kenya's eyes on him but he doesn't care. He'll take the teasing. He's earned it.

But the teasing doesn't come. In fact, when he looks over at Kenya he sees an even dopier grin on his brother's face and on top of it, shining eyeballs with a suspicious wetness growing in the corners of his lids.

_Kenya knows_.

And he does. Kenya knows.

If only grandfather were alive to learn of Taoki's happiness. Unfortunately the old monster died after serving only a year and a half of his life sentence for treason. He'd been treated better in prison than he'd treated his own grandsons in their childhood home. And he'd died with the knowledge that the boys he'd used, abused and reviled had reached the pinnacle of the Fire Lord's inner circle. For all intents and purposes, thought of as part of the royal family.

He died knowing this because Prince Yukio had written him letters with all the painful details of the twins' success.

Hell, maybe that's _why_ he died, Kenya thinks hopefully.

And the boys have never missed him. Not a second of a minute of an hour of a day have they missed their grandfather.

Until tonight. Kenya misses him tonight. Looking at Taoki's ignoramus smile he tries to banish spite but finds it impossible so he mingles it with love for his twin the way he always has.

Embarrassed they look away from each other and Kenya finds an excuse to leave the room.

Taoki turns his attention back to the moon. He knows the story of the princess who became the spirit, but no matter how hard he tries he can't see her in there. No more than he can see that man everyone babbles about.

It's just a sliver tonight anyway.

And just when he thinks he couldn't become a bigger sap he decides the moon this night looks like Lin's smile and the sheer, love-drunk absurdity of that thought makes him laugh out loud.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

There's just something about a baby girl. Not that a girl should or could be loved more than a boy … or four boys … but there's just something about their gassy smiles that lights a father's heart.

Sokka looks down at Ahni who has fallen asleep nursing again. Lying on the bed on her side she's able to let Tatia suckle while they both rest. Often they both pass out and daddy has to gently extract his little angel and put her back in her cradle.

It's actually his favorite time. To stare down at her and wonder what she'll be like. How many times has he begged the spirits to give her as much of her mother as possible? He's sure he's annoying them. Tatia will be who she is. But he can't help hoping.

Not that he doesn't like himself. He just doesn't think his personality … or his ears … would be a good fit on a young lady.

He sits back in the window seat with Tatia snoozing in his arms and hums an old Southern Water Tribe ballad to his sleeping daughter and she smiles. Then she burps. He swells with pride.

A snort comes from the bed as Ahni rolls over. Sokka grins to himself at how lucky he is.

At first he'd been a bit disappointed Tatia was a single. He'd told Ahni and Katara and everyone else in the world that he was thrilled with the lack of a matching set. But Tatia is so amazing. How can there be only one?

As things settled down he realized that there _could_ be only one. Just as his boys are each different and unique and perfect in their own ways, his girl is complete. Knowing them now he'd never choose one of the boys to not be there. But even so if they had come out alone he'd have seen their worth and beauty.

The events of the day roll over him and he frowns. Something's not right in Fire Lord-land, he thinks. He'd wanted Zuko to lighten up a little, but he certainly didn't expect him to immediately begin skipping meetings without notice.

And Sokka can tell Katara's concerned. They'd made eye contact a couple of times and he could see. That little wrinkle between her eyebrows that tells him she's not sure what to do hasn't shown itself in a long time but he saw it today.

It was a nice picnic though, he thinks as he lays the sleeping baby in her cradle. The music was excellent and they shared a few laughs. He pulls her swaddled blanket tighter and tucks the pink corner into a fold.

Slipping into bed beside Ahni he willfully turns off his negative thoughts. He pulls his wife close, tucking her neatly to his side and revels in her sigh of contentment.

He'll save the royal family tomorrow. Tonight he's going to sleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Bokkusu isn't afraid of much. Certainly not physical pain. And most psychological pain doesn't give him a moment's pause either.

As he stares up at the stars from his pallet in an Earth Kingdom clearing, surrounded by the snores and whispers of the tight squadron he's brought, he thinks about where he's headed and the likelihood of actually getting there.

The thought that he might not intercept Yukio before the prince makes it to Omashu province makes his heart beat out of his chest.

The two fugitives were supposed to be on foot but the squadron had come across the remains of a fight and a cowering young tough hiding in the forest nearby. The teenager had spluttered something about a boy and his crazy sister who nearly killed him and his friends. The friends were nowhere to be found of course. They had left their cowardly cohort in the woods to fend for himself.

And when he was questioned about the reasons the strange boy and his crazy sister might attack an innocent group of larger boys, there was nothing coherent to be said. Obviously the prince and Lily had had to defend themselves.

And they'd gotten a ride because it's clear they are no longer on foot or they'd have been caught by now. The wagon tracks confirm a vehicle on the road and the blubbering oaf-in-training had ranted about a farmer who drove through at about the time the boy and his crazy sister had 'attacked'.

So Bokkusu might just make it all the way. He knows with all his fiercely beating heart that at the end of this trail is a potential Achilles heel. And wouldn't you know it'd be a woman?

He can't _not_ see her if they get to the area. Chin will insist on stopping by at any rate and Bokkusu can't very well make an excuse.

The last time she saw him he was being arrested. It seemed a perfect breaking point and a good way for her to forget about him and for him to rationalize his failure to follow up with her.

And here he is again.

Bokkusu isn't afraid of much. But a healer named Song scares the daylights out of him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

All things considered, Yukio's feeling pretty good. Sure, he's in Dirt Land, running from his beloved cousin's forces, but aside from that he's pretty happy.

That fight was one of the highlights of his entire life. It seems crazy but teaming up with Lily was incredibly natural. Almost second nature. Certainly he works well with the twins but fighting alongside this extraordinary girl is one of the most exhilarating things he's every done.

He wonders if she's sleeping and steals a look. Her face is turned toward him as she slumbers on a pallet not ten feet away. The fire casts glow and shadows in patterns across her face and he wonders if she's dreaming.

He'd love to kiss her.

It's all he's thought about since they left the harbor village. He'd love to take her in his arms, pull her tightly against his body and join his lips with hers for hours and hours and hours.

He purposefully rolls over, facing away from her.

Fantasies would be fine if she weren't a part of his breathing space every minute of every day.

And if he follows through with his primary wish and actually kisses her he's doomed.

He'd never leave her behind if that happened and he _has_ to go home. He tries to imagine the amount of trouble he'll be in when he gets back but decides quickly that it's a terrible way to try to get to sleep. He chances one last glance at her and his mind immediately goes back to the wish for a lip lock.

Omashu province can't come fast enough.


	23. Frailty

**Frailty**

"Tell me w-what happened, Ling." Lin commands her distraught maid.

"I'm okay." The tiny, young woman says unconvincingly.

"Did they hurt you?" Lin's angry. Angrier than she's ever been. The poor maid is so terrified she's shaking.

"No. But they said they would if I didn't give them more details next time."

Lin growls under her breath. Her brothers had wasted no time in corralling the young maid and interrogating her. Lin had given the girl permission to tell the absolute truth, knowing there was no way she could say for certain whether or not her mistress had been alone with the White Spirit.

As far as Taoki escorting them to the palanquin, that was on the orders of the Fire Lord himself. What was the boy supposed to do? Say 'no'?

"I'm sorry, Ling." Lin says quietly. "I w-won't let it happen again."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Commander Chin," a young lieutenant approaches, "a woman is here to speak with you."

"She has news of the prince?" Chin's brow furrows.

"She would only speak with you and Bokkusu."

"Bring her here." The box man orders and looks at his friend. "She must have information. Why else would she ask for us specifically?"

Chin shrugs and watches as his subordinate leads a woman toward them. She's of medium height with a slight, but athletic build. He estimates her age around twenty-five, give or take a year or two. She smiles easily at the junior officer and Chin can't help but feel they've met before. When she looks up at him he's sure of it. He just can't place her.

"Thank you for seeing me without an appointment." The woman bows respectfully.

"To what do we owe the pleasure?" Chin smiles charmingly.

"I don't want to seem too forward but I was hoping I might travel with you and your company. I'm going to the Omashu province and I heard in the village that you're headed that way as well. It isn't safe for a woman to travel alone so…" She trails off sheepishly, a blush lighting her cheeks.

"Well…" Chin begins, fully intending to grant her request.

"She's lying." Toph's voice pipes up as she walks past a small group of soldiers eating their breakfast. She strides forward, stopping right in front of the stranger.

"Hello Toph." The woman smiles tightly.

"Hello Suki." The earthbender responds with a frosty grin.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

How many doors in Imiyo has Vallon knocked on? How many has he knocked down? The monotony of the situation is beyond anything he's ever experienced.

Yes there's a cell here in this troublesome village. No, they're not organized enough to do any actual damage yet. Yes, he's going to arrest them all.

And damn it he's going to get his rear back to the capitol in time for his wedding if he has to bury this bizarre port town in an avalanche.

He thinks all of these things as his fist once more makes solid contact with the thick wooden door.

"Captain," his most senior agent always addresses him thus, annoying him to no end, "I don't think there's anyone here."

"Vallon." He grumbles the reminder and begins to turn just as the door opens, revealing a large darkened room; heavy tapestries covering all the windows.

A small man smiles at them and motions Vallon through the doorway.

Because of the bright sunlight outside the room seems even darker and it takes a second for Vallon's eyes to adjust as he takes a step inside.

The door slams behind him and he whirls suddenly to see he's been separated from his backup. He turns to face the person responsible and glances downward as a single candle flame reflects in something silver.

"Oh crap." He mutters as he watches the dagger disappear into his side.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"That was the longest bath ever." Katara mentions as Zuko enters their room from the bathing chamber.

"Timing me?" He smirks.

"Well, I was just wondering if you're going to any meetings today." She asks him pointedly.

"I haven't quite decided yet. Is there something you'd like to do instead?" He asks her pleasantly.

"Not really." She watches him as he fastens the ties of his robe.

He looks over at her and smiles slyly.

"Are you worried about me?" He suddenly queries.

"Uh … well, now that you mention it … " She stammers.

"Well don't be. I'm not going to let anything bad happen."

"Zuko, you don't have complete control over bad things happening or not happening." She says, eyeing him impatiently.

"You're right, I don't. But you know, the meetings I have scheduled won't make the bad things not happen either. If I don't see the silk minister today, I think the world will survive."

"But if you don't see him for two months straight the entire industry could be severely damaged." Katara responds stubbornly.

"See, that's where you're wrong. What do I know about silk? Why is my word the last one on that issue?" He asks as he closes in on her.

"You have that look in your eye." Katara says suspiciously.

"_That_ look?" He grins as he wraps his arms around her and kisses her deeply, feeling her tense and then inevitably relax against him. "Is that a bad thing?" He asks huskily when he comes up for air.

She shakes her head mutely in response and he lowers his head to nuzzle her neck as his hands go to work on other parts of her.

"The silk minister." She says, her voice a trembling whisper.

"Hmmm?" He murmurs into the soft skin behind her ear.

She doesn't answer.

She's too busy unfastening the robe he's just fastened.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"How long before we get to Gaoling?" Yukio asks Farmer Fu as they round another bend. They're headed toward a small town they can just see in the distance.

"We have another two days for that. I have to stop here in Tming and make some money. We'll stay the night here."

Yukio looks over at Lily who is trying to hide her dismay.

"Don't worry," he whispers to her, "we'll be there soon enough."

In reality she's feeling sorry they'll be reaching their destination so quickly. Once they've made it to Gaoling it's just a few more days to the Omashu province. Within the week they'll be there.

And soon after he'll go home to the Fire Nation. And probably to prison. And she'll once again be in the hands of strangers.

"I'm not concerned. Travel takes time." She smiles wanly and he puts his arm around her for an impromptu hug.

"You two ain't actually brother and sister are you?" Farmer Fu fixes them with a jaded eye.

"No." Yukio says defiantly. "We're good friends."

The farmer cocks a smug grin at them.

"Good thing." The old man says as he turns his attention back to the road. "I was gettin' worried."

Lily looks at Yukio who raises his eyebrows at her. She shrugs, admitting she hasn't any idea what the old man meant by his last statement.

Yukio looks away from her and blushes. He understands Farmer Fu's meaning only too well.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You two know each other?" Bokkusu asks Toph as the tension between the two silent women mounts.

"We do." Toph replies. "She's a Kyoshi Warrior. In fact, she's the leader of the Warrior organization. She has no reason to fear traveling alone."

"You have something you want to tell us?" Chin asks Suki.

"Toph seems to have a lot of answers. How about asking her?" Comes the smart reply.

"Well, if I had to guess, " Toph walks forward until she's nose to nose with her former rival, "I'd say she was sent by someone to keep an eye on us."

"Sounds about right to me." Bokkusu rumbles from the sidelines.

Suki grins ruefully. "Actually I do have to make my way back to Omashu. But yes, I was asked to accompany you. I didn't realize you had … Toph with you."

"You're welcome to travel with us as long as you don't get in the way. You know we're looking for the prince who is traveling with a girl who may prove to be dangerous." Chin repeats the story he's been spreading around; that Lily was exposed to a deadly illness and could be contagious.

"My main task is to see that you don't overstep your bounds. Stay within and we should have no problems. I won't interfere." Suki promises.

"Have we met before?" Chin asks her.

"I don't recall meeting you, no." Suki shakes her head but looks more closely at him, noting his long, salt and pepper hair, dark eyebrows, high cheekbones, and dimples.

_Dimples? _

With a scowl she quickly sets her mind back to priorities.

Chin sucks in a breath as he remembers.

"I know where we've met." He says quietly.

"Where?" She asks, sincerely wanting to know. She's usually pretty good with faces and his is a true double-taker so…

She forces her mind back to the business at hand.

"It won't be a pleasant memory for you, I'm afraid." He begins slowly. "I was stationed on a prison ship for a time during the war."

"Oh." She says softly.

"You used to call me 'masked guard number three'." He smiles slightly remembering the spirit she showed daily during her captivity.

"I'm sorry, I don't remember." She turns away.

"You're welcome to travel with us if you still want to." Chin says. "We don't plan on breaking any laws. We just want to make sure our prince is safe."

Suki turns back, her composure regained.

"Thank you." She says. "I'll try to be invisible."

And with that she walks away to the far edge of the camp.

"What's the history there?" Bokkusu asks Toph.

"Nothing." Toph blushes.

"General?" Bokkusu uses her old rank to irritate her. "Now you're the one who's lying."

"How about this then. I don't like owing apologies, and I like making them even less." The earthbender snaps before stalking away to the opposite side of camp from the newcomer.

"If we're lucky we might get a catfight." Bokkusu smirks.

Chin looks at his friend and grins. He pulls a gold piece out of his pocket.

"On the Warrior." He declares.

The box man barks out a laugh. "You're on."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Blurry images give way to jagged flashes of light as Vallon frantically tries to make sense of his surroundings. The smell of burnt flesh assaults his nose and he gags.

"You're safe for now, captain." His agent says, patting him on his shoulder.

"What…" His voice sounds like ripping parchment and so far away he can barely hear it.

"You're at the healer's hut. They're going to take care of you." The young agent says, but his voice doesn't sound as convinced as his words. "I … um … I had to cauterize your wound to stop the bleeding."

There's a commotion in an adjoining room and Vallon struggles to see.

"I'm sorry, sir." A middle-aged woman says as she rushes into the room. "My father is in hiding. Nobody knows his whereabouts or how to get in touch with him." A tear streaks down her face. "The elders insisted and now they won't tell us anything."

A loud buzzing fills Vallon's ears as understanding passes through him. He has a chance. A slim one.

Resigning himself to his potential fate he closes his eyes. He pictures Toph and imagines what she would have looked like on their wedding day and drifts into blackness with a smile on his face.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yukio and Lily sit together on stacked crates behind Farmer Fu's makeshift stall. There is a line down the center of town waiting to buy his products. The canary-toads are very popular, but they're a luxury so very few are actually sold. The produce sells better, but this village is poor and so they're buying fruit one piece at a time.

The two teenagers make note of each customer as they watch the farmer's transactions. Already they're fairly certain of which ones will be likely to attack them on the road tomorrow as they leave the area. Now they understand why the old man isn't charging them for the ride. They've basically been taken on as bodyguards.

"Can I ask you a question?" Yukio breaks the companionable silence they've been sharing.

"Sure." She shrugs finishing off the last bit of her mango.

"Why did Tinn's father teach you to fight?"

"So I could protect Kim and Tinn. I asked him to and he didn't want to because all he knew were airbending moves that he never actually used." Her voice turns bitter for just a second. "But I convinced him and he spent an hour a day with me for five years. Until he got too sick and had to stay in his bed. After that he gave me practice regimens every day and granny would tell him whether or not I'd done them."

"Why did you feel drawn to protect Kim and Tinn?" Yukio asks.

"Because they're precious. A gift to the world. I knew someday Tao Wu and granny would be gone. I wanted to make sure the children had someone they trusted to look after them." She smiles over at Yukio and his heart does a physiologically impossible -- yet genuine -- somersault.

And just as quickly her face turns grim.

"And I failed miserably." She says through clenched teeth.

"They're safe with the avatar. I'd say that's a very good outcome. How is that a failure?"

"Kim could have died on that beach. If you hadn't found her…" Lily's whole body shudders with morbid visions. "… she never should have been there. I should have been taking care of them."

"All's well that ends well, eh?" He flashes her an irrepressible grin.

"I wish." She says picking up the mango peel and stripping all remnants of flesh with her lower teeth.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The banging on their door surprises the royal couple sprawled on their bed in a sound sleep. The sun is peeking through the drapes and it's obviously after noon.

Zuko pulls himself from the bed, wraps a sheet around himself and stumbles to the door, opening it with no small amount of irritation.

It's Sokka looking upset, disheveled, and in a hurry.

"We just got a message … Vallon's been hurt. Ahni and I are taking the fastest ship up to Imiyo." Sokka says quickly just barely flicking a glance over the Fire Lord's sparsely covered frame.

"Wait, what happened?" Zuko rubs his forehead, trying to focus.

"Vallon was stabbed. We got a message by hawk. Minister Kuo has arranged for a personnel carrier to take Ahni and me to Imiyo. The healer's disappeared, supposedly gone into hiding but nobody knows where he is. The wound's been cauterized but Ahni says that could cause more problems if there are a lot of internal injuries. I just hope he can hold on till we get there." Sokka explains in one long breath.

"Give me a minute to get dressed." Zuko mutters, turning away.

"I don't have a minute! We're taking Tatia with us because she still needs Ahni. The boys will stay. Ask Katara to check on them… I should have left you a note." Sokka grouches as he focuses on his brother-in-law's appearance. "Pull it together Zuko." He spits disgustedly as he jogs off down the hall leaving the stunned Fire Lord gaping at him from the doorway.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lin watches the courier come and go. No message from the palace.

Might they actually _not_ invite her back to play?

Impossible. It's only been twenty-four hours. And besides, Taoki said they would and he wouldn't lie.

Or would he?

Plenty of stories go around about the White Spirits. She's heard they're rakes, but that doesn't fit Taoki at all. Maybe his brother.

Although he did know how to kiss.

She feels her face heat as she remembers. Her insides curl as she places her fingers to her lips and swears she can still taste him.

_Poor Ling._ She thinks as she readies her flute for practice. The maid is such an innocent in their family melodrama.

Lin won't let the girl be hurt. Whatever happens or doesn't happen, Ling and any other innocent bystanders will have to be protected.

But nothing is going to keep Lin Cho Sung from Taoki.

Lin knows what the bottom line is. And very soon her brothers are going to know it too.


	24. Reconcile

**Reconcile**

Suki finishes the last of her rice and washes it all down with cool water from her canteen. She's eating much later than everyone else in the camp, a habit she developed during the war and has kept to this day. She's not good at fighting hungry and there were times when danger would come upon her while she slept. Best to be prepared with food in your stomach and a sharpened fan by your side.

A shadow dances in the torch light beside her and she glances up, not surprised in the least to see Toph standing over her. She's no bender but she could feel the other woman's weighted steps headed in her direction from fifty yards away.

"You need something?" The warrior asks curtly.

"Yeah." Toph replies grudgingly.

Suki refuses to stand. For some strange reason she feels it's Toph's responsibility to sit or say her piece and leave. Standing somehow seems like compromise to the warrior. Not that it makes any sense, but she's committed to keeping her rear end on the ground at this moment.

Hostility flares from the warrior and Toph winces a little, knowing she's got it coming. If she could take those weeks during the war back she would. She would change everything, including her humiliating declaration of eternal love to Sokka. Just remembering it now heats her face.

"Yeah." The earthbender repeats, clearing her throat. "Mind if I sit?"

"Free country." Suki mutters.

"Kind of." Toph mutters back as she sits.

"Whatever."

_Okay, this is not going well at all._ Toph thinks and regroups.

"I owe you an apology." She tells the warrior, bracing for rejection.

"Yes, you do." Suki says; reminding the earthbender that simply telling a person you owe them doesn't mean the obligation has been fulfilled.

"Right." Toph clears her throat again. "So, I'm sorry."

"For what?" The warrior asks, not making it the least bit easier.

"For picking on you. For tripping over you every time you were eating so you'd spill your food. For following you and Sokka around so you could never have a moment alone." She surprises Suki with her thoroughness, but she's not through. "For manipulating the situation so you were sent to liberate Omashu rather than come with us to the Fire Nation."

Suki eyes the other woman, not believing what she's hearing. She'd suspected Toph had fixed things so that Suki and Sokka would be separated in the final stages of the war, but hearing the confession is like having it happen again. Not quite as jarring, but painful in the way an old war wound aches when the weather changes. And why shouldn't it be like that? It _is_ an old war wound.

"I always suspected…" She begins and Toph rises rapidly.

"Yeah, so I'm sorry." The earthbender thinks she's going to walk away.

"No you don't." Suki leaps nimbly to her feet. "You're going to explain to me why you picked me out of everyone to hate. What did I ever do to you?"

"You mean besides having a birth date that preceded mine by three years, making you eligible for what at the time was the love of my life?"

"So just because you had a crush on my boyfriend I had a target painted on me?"

"Pretty much." Comes the mumbled reply. "I thought it was love." Toph shrugs.

Suki takes a deep breath and exhales slowly.

"He was the love of _my_ life at the time too you know." She says quietly.

"Well, I was twelve and so …"

"You were a very intelligent, powerful twelve-year-old. Do you know how painful it was to be separated from him when we both thought the other might die before we could reunite?"

"Well, now that I know what actual love is like I … well, I'm really sorry." Toph is sincere enough to choke up a little. "I'm ashamed at my behavior back then."

It's true. They both know it's true. And it's long past time to move on.

"Thanks for coming to me. I know it wasn't easy." Suki returns the sincerity.

Toph's brow furrows and her bowed head pops up as Chin approaches.

"What's wrong?" She asks before he can get a word out.

"We've received a message from Imiyo..." The commander begins as he steps toward her.

It's Suki however, that catches the earthbender as she stumbles backward, Chin's concern and distress hitting Toph like a sledgehammer.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I want a report or I'm going up there myself!" Zuko barks at nobody in particular, the room full of security agents nodding in unison as if they have some answers they're holding back.

"My lord," Minister Kuo says gently, "we expect to hear something any time now. I instructed the lead agent escorting Sokka to send a message the moment they arrived and at every change of situation after that. We know they've reached the town, another message will come soon."

"I want to go up there." The Fire Lord hisses from clenched teeth.

There is no answer. It's an empty wish. There is no way Zuko can expose himself to the danger evident in that troublesome town. He closes his eyes.

_I am a failure_.

"My lord?" The elder box man's voice takes on urgency as he watches his sovereign pale and sway on his feet.

"I'm fine." Zuko snaps opening his eyes and moving toward his seat at the table. "Have we heard anything from Bokkusu?"

_I am a failure_.

"Nothing since the report that the prince and Lily have teamed with a farmer who seems to be taking them to the Omashu province. Bokkusu thinks they will likely stop in Gaoling, but the prince has visited that area and will probably keep a low profile hoping not to be recognized." The minister says guardedly, his eyes never leaving the stricken face of the Fire Lord.

"I assume Toph has been notified about Vallon?" Zuko asks.

_I am a failure_.

"Yes, the initial message we received was one of two sent. The other was bound for the Earth Kingdom." Minister Kuo says in the most reassuring voice he can muster.

He knows what the sick look on the Fire Lord's face means. Knows what it feels like first hand. He experienced it himself while he watched his son nearly die in the infirmary after Bokkusu's capture and torture. He'd been so helpless as he sat through the seemingly endless bedside vigil; all the strength in his massive body useless in the face of his son's suffering.

It's not just that the Fire Lord's good friend could die. The panic brought on by the news of the assassination of a top security agent could bring the Fire Nation to its knees.

As events whirl around them, the coterie of agents, the Minister of Security, and the Fire Lord are spectators. They can move players into position but their power over the situation ends at the point of giving the order. Hollow and heartsick, unable to directly affect the outcome, they wait.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next time Vallon opens his eyes he calmly takes stock of his surroundings. He's groggy and so weak he can't move a muscle beyond those needed to manipulate his eyeballs, but he recognizes the healer's hut from his last foray into consciousness.

Startlingly blue eyes appear before him and the beautiful smile of someone he recognizes settles his breathing. At the moment he can't remember her name, but she's here to help him; he knows that much.

The woman is talking to him in a low, steady voice. Or is she talking to someone else? The other set of blue eyes standing over him is conversing with her. Their voices are like waves. Sounds with no particular meaning to Vallon as he allows it all to wash over him.

The woman is clearly addressing him now and Vallon tries to pay attention.

"You've lost a lot of blood. I'm going to try to heal beyond the cauterizing but we may have to open you up again." She tells him.

His eyes widen as he translates her voice from the ocean language he thinks he hears to real words. They're thinking of cutting him open again? And what would be the point of that? He goes back over her words because he knows there's an explanation in there but they've left his brain like a train out of Ba Sing Se.

"There's internal damage that's being blocked from the healing by the burn. I promise I'll only do it if I have to." The woman explains as if she's read his mind.

He calms. It makes sense for a moment. His memory comes back in short bursts.

Vallon's lips move and the woman leans in closely to hear him.

"Arrest him?" His voice is just a scratchy whisper.

The blue-eyed man comes forward, nodding.

"Your team broke down the door immediately after it was shut on you, but they were too late. They fought with your attacker and cauterized the wound, but you'd already lost a lot of blood by that time. That's why you're so weak." He tells him reaching over to his shoulder and giving it a gentle pat.

"Sokka." The name pops into Vallon's head and he sighs, relaxing. Not that he was afraid he'd never remember the name, he just couldn't place it right away and it was getting on his nerves to think these two people might actually be strangers.

"Yes?" The man leans down closer.

"Your name." Comes that dry-leaf whisper.

Sokka scowls, trying to figure out where this conversation is heading.

"I think he's just remembered your name." Ahni tells her husband as she pulls some water from her pouch and begins touching it to Vallon's side.

After a soothing five minutes she looks to Sokka with a frown. "Hold him down, I have to open it." She pulls out a thin, razor edged dagger and Vallon raises his arms the full four inches he's able and thrashes as much as he can. Somehow the very idea of reopening a wound that has already been burned shut strikes him as an atrocity.

"Hold still." Sokka grabs the larger man's shoulders and pushes him hard against the table.

As Vallon bucks strongly one time, Sokka throws himself on top of the earthbender and holds him down with his entire weight.

Completely spent after that one burst, Vallon decides the healer knows what she's doing and he stops fighting in the blink of an eye. A grimace clenches on his face as, for the second time in a single day, he feels a blade enter his body.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Is there anything I can do to help you?" Suki has found Toph's earth tent. The blind woman is haphazardly pulling her things together, making a huge mess and muttering to herself.

"No, I'm fine!" Toph snaps.

Suki picks up a pair of slippers and five stockings, pulls open Toph's duffle and puts them gently into the bag.

"You don't have to help me." Toph's voice is hard. "I wish you wouldn't."

"If I help you you'll get out of here faster. That's a bonus all around." Suki quips sarcastically and watches as the irate earthbender deflates a bit.

"Well since you put it that way." Toph responds as she crawls across the dirt floor of the tent and gathers up some accessories that she's had piled in the corner. A long scarf hangs from her fist as well as a squashed headband and a ratty old pom-pom attached to a braided fabric bracelet that looks like it might be a lucky charm. She throws them in the bag with no reverence whatsoever.

"I really didn't expect anything bad to happen to him." Toph speaks almost to herself. She stands and rubs her face with her palms, swiping dirt all over it. "We're to be married in a couple of weeks." Her head drops forward into her cupped hands as if it's suddenly too heavy for lifting on her slender neck.

Suki wants to reach out to her, but they've only just found accord. And now it's as if the spirits have wreaked vengeance on the blind woman for her past misdeeds. Knowing how it felt to leave Sokka behind with such a great possibility one or both of them might not survive, the parallel is striking.

Just as Suki raises her hand to the other woman's shoulder Toph snaps out of it. She holds her hands out from her face and lifts the dirt away. Clapping her hands together she goes back to her sloppy packing.

"Are you determined to help me?" Toph asks suddenly, blunt but not caustic.

"Yes." Suki assures her.

"Then fill my drinking pouch with water and snag me some dried fish and a couple of moon peaches." Toph directs. "Please. I would appreciate it." She adds, realizing she had slipped back into her general personality. You'd think after five years she'd have let that go, but people naturally look to her to make decisions and so she's maintained that air of authority whether she's wanted to or not.

Right now she wishes she hadn't given Suki a direct order. The fact the warrior simply went to the task without arguing or even the slightest annoyance at Toph's tone gives the earthbender ample reason to believe she's being pitied.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Zuko finds Katara in the nursery where the two sets of twins are sleeping. She sits watching them, her brows furrowed slightly and her fingers wound tightly together in her lap.

"Have you heard anything?" She asks when he enters.

"We know they're there. We haven't heard anything about Vallon's condition." Zuko reports quietly.

"They know to report in no matter what?" She asks foolishly. Of course they know. It's standard operating procedure.

"Yes, they know." Zuko looks at the sleeping boys because that's where Katara's gaze falls.

"I wish I could fight." She declares with whispered passion.

"I know just how you feel." He agrees fiercely.

"So what do you think it means that we have no news?" Katara asks in a small voice, fearing Zuko's answer.

"I have no idea."

She nods tightly and looks down at her hands. That was the answer she was afraid of.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXX

**A/N:** Some people have asked me to update faster. I'm trying to. I really am. That you actually want to read more is inspiring and helpful. I promise I'll work harder and try to get you at least one new chapter a week, maybe more.

Thanks to everyone who has been continuing to read even when I keep you waiting. And especially to everyone who has taken the time to drop me a line. I appreciate it so much!

MacFie xoxo


	25. Unbidden

**Unbidden**

Vallon's dreams have been whirling, nonsensical nightmares and overwhelming weakness has left him flat on his back exactly where the Water Tribe couple stood over him in the healing… how long ago? It seems to the big earthbender like something that happened in another lifetime.

In his wild imaginings years have gone by without him being able to lift a limb, or even his head. He hears voices and then they are swept away by the buzzing noise that fills his ears.

Cool cloths are placed on his head; he knows that's real. A delicate hand presses his forehead and cheek to discern his temperature. Cool, soothing water sweeps over him; soothing the aches for a time.

His eyes flicker open and he dimly places Ahni's face in the fog. She smiles down at him as a stream of water rises from a pitcher by the bed and she covers her hands with it. He's transported back to a cave where the pain in his midsection was lethal and another healer brought him back.

But this healing is one of many he's been vaguely aware of since he watched the assassin's blade enter his body. Shouldn't he feel better by now?

Panic sets in and he searches Ahni's face for clues as to why in the world he's still half dead. She gives him none. Just a calm smile and a gentle shushing and water; that wonderful, cool water flowing over his fiery skin.

Vallon closes his eyes as Sokka bends toward Ahni's ear.

"She's just pulled in to port." Vallon hears the Water Tribe captain say through the excess noise that rushes back into his fevered brain.

_She's here._ He thinks as sleep overtakes him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yukio climbs back onto Farmer Fu's cart with a groan. This is the third fight they have won for the farmer. Apparently his canary-toads are more than a luxury. Their secretions are considered an aphrodisiac and so the cargo with which they travel is a draw for thieves and lonely men alike. And there seem to be a lot of both in Dirt Land.

They've managed to rather quickly defeat all comers with their now textbook teamwork. First it's divide and then it's conquer. Lily leads her opponents toward large, heavy obstacles and Yukio uses his strength and agility to throw his foes into one another in crushing body slams.

It was fun the first two times. This time it might also have been fun if not for the gossip they'd managed to overhear as they'd waited for the ruffians to get close enough to attack.

Yukio looks at Lily who might just be a greener shade of gray than he is.

"Do you think it was the same house?" He asks her.

"I don't know. It was the same night. But we left four people unconscious, not three dismembered, decapitated bodies." She replies, a tremble in her voice showing her anxiety.

"But they said I had been seen in the area." Yukio closes his eyes hearing the words again.

_Well, all I know is that Prince Yukio was seen near the house where they found those poor people all cut up and dead. And now I've heard he's missing. Maybe even here in the Earth Kingdom. I'm sure it's true because my best friend's son works on a ship that goes to the Fire Nation all the time and he was in the capitol when the news broke. If anybody turns up without their heads and other parts, we'll know it's that prince come to kill us all._

The old lady had ended on a shudder as the mutterings of her cohorts had begun in earnest.

Farmer Fu had taken himself away from the area, ostensibly to fill their canteens, but he always tends to disappear when an ambush is sensed. It's just as well. He's no fighter and likely Yukio and Lily would be distracted trying to be sure of his welfare rather than giving their full attention to the fight if he were to hang around.

But thanks to his uncanny ability to disappear at the right time the farmer is unaware of this latest bit of news. Although the old man is unwilling to engage in combat, that's simply evidence of what both teens have come to see is a keen intellect. Once he hears the gossip, it won't take the farmer long to put two and two together and come up with a fugitive prince.

"Don't worry about it." Yukio whispers to Lily as the old man nears. "We'll be there soon enough and he'll have no idea how to find us once we separate."

"I just want this to be over." She sighs, her head in her hands.

Yukio feels a stab of disappointment in his chest and turns his eyes away from her distraught form.

In spite of this latest shock, he doesn't want this journey to be over. Not by a long shot.

What's he got to look forward to after this particular adventure? Prison and no Lily.

If he could slow the whole process down, he definitely would.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I've come to a decision." The Fire Lord tells the twins as they stand before him in the throne room.

Both Taoki and Kenya had been surprised to receive a formal summons. Typically they are dressed down or complimented in security meetings. They've seen few of those since Prince Yukio's disappearance, but nonetheless they continue to be considered family. The order to appear has sparked their imaginations in the worst way.

"My lord?" Taoki fills the awkward silence.

"I've made a decision concerning the two of you and your future in the Fire Nation." Zuko replies.

Okay, this is not a conversation the twins had wanted to have for a very long time. Resisting the urge to glance at each other, they stare up at the Fire Lord with anxious inquiry.

"Don't look so scared." Zuko smiles slightly. "It concerns your grandfather."

_Great, that old jackal._ Kenya thinks. _What havoc can he wreak on our lives after death? _

"His lands and title were turned over to me when he committed treason. I've held them for the past five years in safe keeping for the two of you. I was planning to hand it over to you later, perhaps on Yukio's eighteenth birthday, but I need a presence in Imiyo now." Zuko explains succinctly, his calm voice completely at odds with the life-shaking import of his words.

"T-Taoki's oldest." Kenya can't believe he just stammered. He clears his throat. "He should be baron."

"Kenya." Taoki begins, fully intending to argue the entire thing regardless of the presence of the Fire Lord.

"There won't be just one. Part of the problem with your grandfather was that his lands were too vast and important and he misused the power. I'm splitting it into two seats. The new title comes with the orchard land from the Xu Lan River to the mountains and the family title controls the town, the port and the portion of the forest that ends at that side of the river."

"Two?" Taoki just blinks at Zuko, wonder where his brain is and if he can appear any more stupid at this moment.

"Yes. I'm creating a new barony and one of you will hold that title while the other holds the existing one. I suggest Taoki hold the family title since he's the eldest and Kenya take the new one, but it's up to you to decide. I plan to hold the ceremony tonight and have you on your way first thing tomorrow morning so decide in the next ten minutes or the scribe won't have time to prepare all the documents to my satisfaction."

And with that the Fire Lord stands on the dais, steps down to the marble floor and strides from the room.

_Ten minutes?_ Taoki thinks_. It'll take us that long to lift our jaws from the floor._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So you've given up fighting altogether?" Chin asks Suki as they eat their supper in a circle that includes Bokkusu and some other officers.

"When we expanded the group I was given the leadership position which is more administrative." She replies, washing down a bite with water from her canteen. "But I still get to train the warriors from time to time and spar with them. If there's a reason for me to be involved in action and I'm close enough, I'm all over it." Her mouth curls at the corner, obviously relishing the idea of fighting again.

"So you travel back and forth between Omashu, Ba Sing Se and Kyoshi Island." Chin surmises, barely noticing the other officers have finished their meals and, one by one, are leaving to wash their plates in the nearby stream.

"Pretty much. I like to keep on the move. I spent most of my life protecting Kyoshi Island, but getting involved in the war kind of woke an interest in travel." She laughs wryly, "Which is an odd thing since I spent so much of that time in a brig on a ship."

"I thought you handled yourself very well in there." Chin says sincerely. "In fact, you won quite a few admirers while you were our unwilling guest."

"I know. Especially that one who kept trying to strip search me in the middle of the night."

Chin's eyes spark with an old anger.

"He joined the insurgency after the war. He is no longer a problem to anyone." He says darkly.

Suki nods, somehow comforted by the commander's reaction. There actually had been several guards who had made it their business to protect her from the unwanted attentions of her most ardent admirer, and she wonders if Chin was one of them.

"The insurgency was horrible." Suki says sympathetically.

"Yes. And unnecessary." He responds softly, obviously not willing to talk about it.

"I remember Sokka used to want to go and help in some way. But his father told him he'd probably make things harder on Fire Lord Iroh and Prince Zuko. They were both ready to give aid if asked though." She says, a twinge of pain in her heart for the past.

"Oh I can just imagine the uproar if the prince was flanked in battle by two Water Tribesmen." Chin smiles.

"So Hakoda was correct." She chuckles.

"Most definitely."

It's right about now that they realize they're alone. Even Bokussu has gotten up and left without a word.

Firelight dances in Chin's bright, golden eyes and she holds her breath. He says nothing however; just sits there looking at her with that little smile on his face.

So Suki says nothing either.

The muffled laughter and murmurs of the soldiers in the camp filter to them and blend with the crackling fire and his smile turns to a look of pensive curiosity; his brow slightly furrowed and his head ever-so-slightly tipped to the side.

"Are you finished with your supper?" He finally asks, his voice low, nearly a whisper.

Startled by the mundane question after what to her had been a fairly intense moment, Suki can only nod.

He takes the metal plate from the ground in front of her, stacks it on his own and stands gracefully. He holds his hand out to her and she takes it, although she can rise just as beautifully and the sharp, warrior in her instinctively rebels at the assistance.

But if she hadn't accepted it she wouldn't have felt his warm, smooth palm against her own, so she marks it a fair exchange.

He drops her hand once she's on her feet and they walk side-by-side to her small tent where they stop and face each other. He bows to her.

"Thank you for sharing supper with us. It was our privilege to have your company." He says, his smile warm and friendly.

"My pleasure." Suki suppresses a tiny giggle and wonders where that hint of girlishness came from.

Chin nods once, turns and walks toward a group of young men who seem to be cabin boys or squires. He hands one of them the plates and keeps walking to his large tent.

Suki watches Chin until he's disappeared behind the flap.

"I think he likes you." An impossibly deep voice from behind her makes her jump out of her skin.

"What? Oh …" She inwardly curses herself for letting down her guard as she turns to the box-shaped security man. "Um, what?"

Bokkusu smiles at her discomfort. For once he's happy to make a woman nervous.

"I think he likes you." He repeats with a flashing grin that could be friendly or menacing; only he knows for certain the intent.

"Nonsense." Suki replies, regaining her composure. "He's very polite."

"That he is."

Suki hears the words in her head, tries to stop them and fails miserably. "He's a womanizer, isn't he? No man can be that good looking and that nice without being spoiled rotten by every woman he turns those glowing golds on."

"He is what he is. He's never intentionally hurt a single soul who wasn't an enemy of his country." The deep voice turns to granite. "Are you an enemy?"

"I'm a warrior for the Earth Kingdom." She lifts her chin defiantly. "I have no quarrel with the current regime of the Fire Nation. If Fire Lord Zuko produces an heir the likes of his father, I'll revisit the matter."

Bokkusu's chuckle is like a low rumble of thunder and he bows to her just as Chin did a moment ago.

"You'll do." He says as he turns and walks away.

"Yeah, well …" She says under her breath before realizing he 's long gone. "The nerve." She hisses.

She steals one last look at the commander's tent and tucks herself inside her own for the rest of the night.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I love you." A trembling whisper swirls into Vallon's dreams.

That awful buzzing is still assaulting the interior of his skull and he fights against another episode of dry heaves.

Vallon swallows and his parched throat sticks together. Choking slightly he opens his mouth before his eyelids can flutter open.

"Water?" The whisper he loves asks him before he can make his request.

And before he can even nod, a cup presses into his lower lip and cool liquid trickles lightly into his mouth.

Focusing tightly on the face over him he's alarmed to see tears running down Toph's face.

_This has to be a dream. No, a nightmare._

Toph never cries in front of people and there are definitely others in the room.

"I love you." She chokes again, running her graceful hand over his brow and down his cheekbone to his jaw.

"I'm … " Vallon's not sure why he wants to tell her he's dying. He's afraid Ahni might try to sugarcoat things. Best to be prepared. But he can feel himself fading before he can get that second, crucial word out.

"Sssshhh." She says, pressing her lips lightly to his.

"I'm …" And like night falling he slips gently back into dreamland.

After several minutes of memorizing Vallon with her touch Toph rises from the bed and wipes her fist across her eyes.

"The blade was poisoned, wasn't it?" She says with barely contained fury.

"Toph," Sokka begins but stops when she holds up her hand.

"I want to do the interrogation of the suspect." She says flatly. "I want to do it now."


	26. Reorientation

**Reorientation**

Yukio wakes up in the dead of night to see Lily's bedroll empty. Scrambling to his feet he frantically tracks her footsteps to determine whether she's left or if she's just gone to take care of her personal needs.

The footprints leading into the forest give his heart a reason to slow down. She's obviously in need of some privacy for a few moments.

Heaving a sigh of relief he thinks about all that has transpired and how it would be just like Lily to try to disappear in order to save him. She'd done that kind of thing back in the Fire Nation and now that she actually knows him it's even more likely she'll want to let him off the hook. Not that she's in love with him or anything. Yukio snorts as he imagines that possibility. But she's a loyal friend and that's as obvious as her skills as a fighter.

She'll make a great Kyoshi Warrior, he decides.

Sitting on a boulder he waits for her to reappear so he can remind her they're a team until he gets her safely to their destination.

And he waits.

After a little while he stands and stalks toward the forest's edge.

But what if she's in the middle of something embarrassing?

He sits back down to wait some more.

Finally, after what seems to him a very long time, he takes a firm stance and walks with purpose right into the woods, following her tracks across the undergrowth. He hears rustling. And something else.

He pushes aside two bushes that cover the entry to a clearing.

He stops in his tracks, his eyes widening and his breath catching in his throat.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Ping_.

_Ping._

_Ping._

Lin slips out of her bed and listens closely in the darkness.

_Ping._

Hesitantly she steps toward her window and pulls the drape aside just enough to allow her a peek outside. Down below Taoki is winding up to throw another pebble and she pulls the drape wider.

He pulls his arm back just as the moonlight glints off the gold chain on her ruby pendant and he freezes.

Quickly, Lin lights a candle and stands where she knows he can see her. Holding her hand up she bids him to wait where he is.

Throwing a robe on she dashes from her room and makes her way silently down the corridor to the maid's entrance. From there it's just two stairwells, three more corridors and four doorways before she reaches the exit to the courtyard.

Realizing her hands are trembling Lin takes a moment to catch her breath before quietly opening the door and easing outside.

"Taoki!" She whispers happily as she rushes toward him.

The smile on his face tells her everything. He's been missing her these few days as much as she's longed for him.

As she reaches him he grabs her in a tight hug, swings her off her feet and spins her around. She smothers a giggle in his shoulder and wraps her arms more tightly around his neck.

Setting her lightly on her feet he bends to her and kisses her sweetly. As the kiss deepens she considers her knees might fail at any moment and she'll find herself staring up at him from the ground.

But his hold is tight. She wouldn't fall if she actually fainted.

When he pulls back she's surprised to see his face is serious. He runs his finger down the side of her face to her neck and then reaches up to sweep his hand over her head and down the top part of her braid.

"I have to go away for a while." He finally says softly.

"W-why?" She asks, her voice sounding not only defective to her but small and childish as well.

"I've been given my grandfather's title and I have to go to Imiyo to take the seat. Kenya's also been granted a title and lands in the same province so he's going, too. I don't know when we'll be back."

"I d-don't … understand." She says slowly, wondering about the many things she doesn't know about him. His noble status is quite a surprise. Especially when compared to what she's always heard from her father and brothers.

And how the heck did he know which room was her bedroom?

"It's not my choice, Lin. I wouldn't leave if I didn't have to." Taoki misunderstands her confusion.

"I know." She says smiling sadly up at him.

As if it weren't difficult enough to find opportunities to see each other, now it will be impossible. All her hopes for invitations to the palace and more kisses are swept away with one royal decree.

"Is there a way I can write to you? I don't want to get you in trouble or anything." He asks.

"I don't see how." She says with miserable honestly. "I'm w-watched pretty closely. And I don't get out that m-much anymore."

"I have an idea." Taoki kisses her again. And again. That's not the idea he was thinking of but rather an urge that was suddenly impossible to resist.

When the kisses end her face is flushed and her hands are fists curled into his over-robe.

"I've got to let you get back inside before we're discovered. Just remember that correspondence from me will always come from the palace. Never turn down an invitation."

She laughs at that. Who turns down an invitation from the Fire Lord? "I w-won't." She promises.

He pulls her hands down from his robe and holds both in his own as he looks into her eyes.

"I promise I'll come back for you." He says evenly and with conviction. "Do you want this?" He motions back and forth between them with their joined hands.

"Yes." She breathes, never more sure of anything in her life despite the risks.

"Then I'll come back for you. I promise." He smiles that way that makes her head spin and treats her to another luscious kiss.

"I'll w-wait." She vows.

"Now go back inside and wave to me from your window once you're upstairs. I won't leave until I know you're safe in your room." He says as he draws her toward the house.

Minutes later, after waving to him from her window and watching him disappear into the shadows, she holds her hands tightly together, preserving the warmth of his touch.

It won't be easy. Her father and her brothers will be furious. But with Taoki now a titled nobleman, at least one of their objections is off the table.

She'll miss him. But his promise to return for her warms her like nothing ever has.

Climbing back into her bed she blows out the candle and tucks herself deep into the blankets. She closes her eyes and curls on her side to sleep. The wind picks up a bit and she listens to the deep purple leaves in the maples as they whisper a lullaby.

Suddenly sitting up in her bed, she giggles wildly, kicks her legs frantically and hugs herself tightly with both arms, seeing for the first time an exit from this house and this family and the stifling oversight of her father.

And time with Taoki. Forever and ever and ever.

She flops back down on the bed and grins brightly up toward the ceiling.

She's happy.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Toph, you just broke about twenty protocols with that interrogation." Sokka exasperatedly scolds his friend.

"Bite me." The world's greatest earthbender snaps back as she turns her back to him and stalks angrily away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The whites of Lily's eyes glow in the moonlight as she glances over at Yukio. The prince, as frozen as she is, tries to give her some reassurance in a nod, but it's not working.

The platypus-bear snuffling around the foliage about ten yards from the girl seems to be ignoring them. Any movement on Lily's part is bound to change that situation in a heartbeat.

Yukio bends down slowly and feels around the ground for a stick or a rock or something to throw to buy Lily some time to run. Trying hard not to make too much noise in his search his brain monologues a stream of curses the likes of which would impress even Chin's crew.

Finally he feels the rough, solid surface of a large rock and pulls it free from the dirt beneath it. Hefting it and pulling back he plans a trajectory past the bear and deeper into the woods behind it. Hopefully creating enough of a noise that the beast will have to check it out.

Such are the plans of a panicked sixteen-year-old.

As he begins the arc to release the rock, the bear decides to amble in the same direction of Yukio's aim. Startled, Yukio flinches just enough to take the pepper off his pitch and the rock hits the platypus-bear squarely in its massive behind.

The animal rears up to a height of at least 5000 feet in Yukio's estimation, and roars it's fury. After another moment of stunned terror, Lily takes off running. Dropping heavily back to the ground the platypus-bear gives chase to the only culprit it can see at that point: the terrified teenaged girl.

It's fast. Much faster than one would think considering the ungainliness of the creature.

"Keep running, Lily!" Yukio hollers at her as he leaps into the path of the charging beast.

"No!" Lily cries, doubling back just as Yukio is knocked about ten feet by a huge, swiping paw.

The bear growls loudly and lunges forward to pounce on the downed prince who groggily rolls over and tries to avoid the blow.

The bear misses its mark as a large log makes contact with its head. It might have been enough if it hadn't been too heavy for Lily to get some real strength behind, but at least it distracts the bear from its royal snack.

Seeing an opportunity, Lily runs straight at the bear as it rears up to its towering height once more. Just as she passes it she ducks down and monkey-crawls right around it, causing it to curl up into itself as it tries to follow her movements. Losing its balance, the animal falls heavily onto its side and rolls over to its feet, unhurt and unhappy.

Yukio, revived enough to help a bit, grabs a long branch from the ground and pokes at the creature until it turns on him again. Shaking off the dizziness from that first strike, Yukio jabs at the bear with all his might.

The bear swats hard at the branch and Lily clubs it again with another log; this one smaller and more precisely thrown.

As the beast turns back toward Lily, Yukio stumbles toward it, holding the branch like a spear. At the last moment the animal turns and gives the prince another hard swat that opens four deep gashes on the side of his face and very likely breaks his jaw. Yukio lands yards from the face-off in an unconscious heap.

At that moment Lily leaps onto the bear's back and runs over its head. Infuriated the furry behemoth turns his snarls on her. She leaps to the ground and runs toward the edge of the forest, trusting the animal will lose interest in the prince now that she's irritated it enough. She's right.

She races across the mountain road, noting Farmer Fu's shocked expression as the enraged beast closes in on her. At the edge of the road, Lily stops short, times her leap perfectly and dives to the side as the bear races past her and slides down the steep slope to the valley far below. It's infuriated bellows rise up to her but it's stuck at the bottom and won't be attacking them again any time soon.

Lily picks herself up and dusts herself off, her palms and knees stinging with the gravel abrasion. Rushing back to the clearing her knees go weak with relief at the passing of the danger. But a much more powerful fear is rising within her at the possibility of Yukio being very seriously injured.

Looking at the prince's still form Lily can't stop the tears from streaming down her cheeks. A motionless lump in the grass of the clearing, Yukio looks dead. Until she gets close enough to check his injuries. Then he looks bloody and dead.

The gashes on the side of his face are deep. The blood pouring from them has already soaked the neck of his tunic and his jaw is already swelling ominously.

"Yukio?" She says quietly, placing her fingers to his neck to determine a heartbeat.

Her happiness at feeling a pulse lives side-by-side with sheer terror at the extent of the injury. When he moans lightly she bends close to his ear.

"It's gone now. You're going to be okay." She whispers shakily.

There's a gagging sound in the back of his throat and he shoves at her grip as he rolls over to his hands and knees. Coughing and spluttering bright red he spits out a tooth. Resting his forehead on the ground he spits a few more times and grumbles incoherently.

"Are…" He wants to ask her if she's okay but his mouth isn't working right so he concentrates on pushing his tongue through the bloody hole where his left canine tooth used to live.

"We'll get you to a healer." She murmurs, sliding her palm along his tensely coiled shoulders and stroking comfortingly back and forth. "Don't worry about anything."

"Got some first aid." Farmer Fu appears beside them. In his hands he carries bandages, a washcloth, a canteen and a flask.

"What's that?" Lily indicates the flask.

"It's going to help keep the wound from festering." The old man says as he pours some water from the canteen onto the washcloth.

Lily nods and he bends over to her to whisper, "It's going to hurt. A lot. Better clear the area."

"I'm staying." She says holding onto Yukio's hand.

The cleaning of the gashes is uncomfortable. But when Farmer Fu pours the liquid from the flask onto the four streaks Lily has to hold Yukio with both arms and legs. She looks wide-eyed at the Farmer as the prince growls words never heard before by teenaged young ladies' ears.

"Here," Fu says thrusting the flask into Yukio's hand. "Rinse out your mouth. Then swallow the rest. All of it. When the bleeding's completely stopped we'll put some salve I got on it for healing."

With that the old man walks away, leaving Yukio trying to rinse his mouth and Lily fretting over his every move.

"I'm sorry." Lily says as she watches him drool out most of the liquid on his first attempt.

He shakes his head and winces at the stab of pain. Getting it right this time, he swishes the burning liquid in his mouth and spits it to the side. He takes another pull on the flask and grimaces as he swallows. He recognizes this drink from his time on Sokka's ship. It's made with corn if he recalls correctly. Not that it matters.

He feels around on the ground for his tooth and Lily holds it up.

"Got it." She says.

After several sad attempts at asking her to hold onto it he just points at her.

"I'll hold onto it." She nods, closing her fist around it.

At this point Yukio takes a huge gulp of the drink and finds it's going down much easier. He'll be drunk soon, he hopes, and all this will go away for a few hours.

Woozy, he looks Lily over to make absolutely sure she's okay and he struggles to his feet. Leaning on her for support he stumbles out of the clearing toward the camp and his bed.

"I wasn't running away." Lily says softly to him as he lays on his bedroll.

She continues to blot his wounds with a damp cloth. He continues to empty the flask.

The last thing Yukio sees before he drifts off to sleep is Farmer Fu walking over and kneeling over him with a needle and thread. One last shudder and he sinks gratefully into slumber. He doesn't even feel the stitching.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I have a plan." Katara says as she snuggles in for the night with Zuko.

"Please don't terrify me just as I'm going to sleep." He says dryly.

"We should go with Taoki and Kenya to Imiyo." She ignores his wit.

"We?" He opens one eye and looks at her before closing it again.

"Yes. You throw your complete support behind them and we can bring Vallon back with us on our return."

"I'm supposed to take you into that viper's nest when you're their ultimate target? Not likely." He snorts, his eyes still closed. It's easier to argue with her if he can't see her.

"Look, Ahni's there and I'll need her if anything happens with the baby before she comes back. And you can keep me safe. How many personal guards do I have now?"

"Twelve. I'm doubling it to twenty-four tomorrow."

"For the trip?"

"No. Just because."

"What about the trip?"

"I didn't say 'yes'."

"Not yet, but I have all night to convince you."

"The sexy kind of convincing or the badgering until I give in from pure exhaustion kind?"

"Badgering."

"I concede defeat."

"That was easy."

"I hope we'll have room for your thirty-six guards."

Katara chuckles at the image of her trying to walk down the corridor surrounded by three-dozen huge firebenders.

"You're funny." She snuggles in again.

"I'm not joking."

XXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXX

**A/N**: I've decided that making promises that I'll post chapters faster actually causes my family to get sick. In the interest of my children's health, I make no more promises. I hope you liked it and I want to thank my new readers who dropped me a line. It was a real kick in the pants when I needed it. Thanks!!

MacFie xoxo


	27. Faith

**Faith**

Aang supervises Tinn's basic kata, assuring himself that each and every muscle movement is perfect. After Fire, Air has always been recognized as the most dangerous element to learn. Nearly impossible to control in addition to being a mostly invisible yet overwhelmingly powerful force, Air had traditionally been taught in small increments of basics over a number of years. With Tinn and Kim, Aang wants to hold on to those old templates and give the children the safest, most spiritually connected training possible.

"That's right, Tinn," The avatar says excitedly, "a perfect sequence. I can't find anything wrong with it."

"Thank you, sifu." Tinn bows, his cheeks flushing pink as a proud grin spreads across his face.

Kim, still in the observing phase of her training claps her hands enthusiastically.

Suddenly Aang stops and his head tilts to the side. The children watch a frown crease the arrow on his brow and wonder if he's listening or feeling.

"Ty Lee," He calls out to his wife just as a very old man rounds the corner from the other side of the temple wall.

"Oh yes, please get Ty Lee." Guru Patik nods his head happily not even saying _hello_.

A squeal erupts from across the courtyard and a pink blur leaps and tumbles toward them in a flash.

"Guru Patik!" Ty Lee flings her arms around the old man's neck and he squeezes her back in that grandpa way that always fills the bodybender's heart with warmth.

"Kim, Tinn, I'd like you to meet Guru Patik." Aang herds the two young airbenders over to his wife and the old man.

"You've been busy." Patik jokes, raising his eyebrows suggestively. Ty Lee blushes and Aang scowls.

"I'm glad you're here, actually…" The avatar begins, deciding not to dignify the off-color joke with a response.

"I didn't come for you." Patik quickly cuts him off and puts his hands on Ty Lee's shoulders. "I have more important business to attend to with this lovely young lady."

The old man turns a shrewd gaze on the children who stare at him with eyes as big as the wheels on a cabbage cart.

"And you two." He smiles gently down at them. "It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance." He bows respectfully to the gaping youngsters.

"Me too." Tinn squeaks. "Us too." He corrects himself, knowing Kim won't actually speak for herself.

The guru chuckles softly and ruffles the boy's hair with his boney fingers making it stand on end in some spots. He turns to Ty Lee and juts his elbow from his body in an invitation.

"Shall we take tea on the North side of the temple?" He asks solicitously.

"Of course." Ty Lee giggles. "What a treat to have a pleasant meeting with a charming gentleman."

Aang groans as she winks at him. Patik's smile is like that of a hyena-chimp, only with fewer teeth.

"No blowing the Avatar off the cliff." The old man warns the children mischievously and Ty Lee giggles again. As they disappear around the side of the temple, Aang narrows his eyes at the space they occupied just moments before.

"Who was that man?" Tinn breaks him out of his reverie.

"Just an old sage who, for some reason, is more interested in speaking privately with my wife than spending time with the first two airbenders anyone's seen in over a decade." He grouches.

"Us?" Kim asks, confused.

"Yes, Kim." Aang smiles down at her, placing his hand affectionately on her delicate shoulder. "How about we take tea as well? No sense in those two having all the fun."

He and Tinn gather their training accoutrements and secure them before they head for the _South_ side of the temple to have their own tea party.

No gurus allowed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_I must be in the palace. They must have moved me while I was sleeping._

Vallon blinks up at the Fire Lord and princess as they look down at him. He feels like a specimen under their perusal. He knows he's been awake for longer periods than before. He's even been able to keep water, diluted wine and some chicken-squirrel broth down. It's hard to figure out just when he was moved from the healer's hut to a ship and then on to the palace, though. It just doesn't seem possible.

"How are you feeling?" Katara instinctively begins to pull some water from the jug beside the bed, but Ahni stills her hand.

"I know it's hard to remember," the healer says, "but you really want to hold off until after the baby comes."

"I keep forgetting." Katara blushes. She can't fight. She can't heal. Soon she won't be able to … it's exhausting in its tedium.

"Where am I?" Vallon finally has to ask. He knows he's not in his suite in the palace living quarters. And glancing around he sees the rough paneled walls of the recovery unit he's been lying in for days. "Wait, I know." He says.

"You're getting better." Ahni smiles down at him angelically.

"I might be hallucinating." He informs her seriously. It's the only explanation for the royal couple being in the room that makes sense.

"No, they're here. They came to take you home." Toph sits on the other side of his bed and smoothes a cool cloth over his forehead as she's done endlessly since she arrived. It eases him more than anything else and she's given almost every moment of her time to the task. All other moments are spent either eating or interrogating. Sometimes both at the same time, which is highly disconcerting to the terrified prisoners being questioned. And she loves that.

"We have two ceremonies to install the new barons and then we can leave. We're doing it all tomorrow." Zuko tells Vallon.

"Why is it so crowded in here?" The patient asks with his brow furrowed deeply.

Vallon hears a muttered curse from none other than the princess as the Fire Lord smirks.

"They're Katara's personal guard." Toph says, barely controlling her own amusement.

Vallon glances around the room full of large soldiers and smiles weakly, and then closes his eyes.

"Why don't we let you get some rest?" Katara says quickly, patting his hand.

He nods. "Thank you." He says hoarsely.

"We're taking you home as soon as we can." The Fire Lord's voice softly proclaims.

Toph starts to rise from the bed and Vallon's hand reaches out to grip her wrist, keeping her in place.

Tears prick Katara's eyes as she sees multiple emotions play across the world's greatest earthbender's alarmingly gaunt face.

"We'll see you in a little while." The princess says to her friend, clearing her throat to release the thick tension located there.

"It's okay," Toph says with false bravado. "He always does this. He's such a baby."

Vallon whispers a scratchy laugh and a smile plays at his lips even as his eyes stay closed.

As they exit the room – slowly thanks to Katara's thirty-six firebenders – Zuko bends down to ask Ahni for Vallon's true prognosis.

"Oh, I was telling the truth." She explains as she closes the door quietly. "He's getting better. I have to admit, I was very worried for a while there, but he's finally turned the corner. It's slow-going, though." She warns.

"Will he be able to travel by tomorrow evening?" Zuko asks.

"The next day would be better, but if you need him on the ship tomorrow, I see no real harm. His stomach is still not very strong, and I worry he may experience some sea sickness."

"The next day then." The Fire Lord proclaims, his eyes seeking Taoki and Kenya in the throng of villagers who have come to get a glimpse of the Fire Lord and the princess.

As the massive entourage of guards, assistants and friends spills out of the hut onto the street, Katara stops short, her face pale and frozen in pain.

"What is it?" Zuko asks her anxiously, his own face stark.

She turns wide, blue, questioning eyes to Ahni and the healer pulls water to coat her sister-in-law's bulging belly. As she runs her glowing hands over the protrusion Sokka stares into his wife's face, looking for clues. He's seen any number of strange behaviors during Ahni's three pregnancies, but this is Katara, an amateur, he thinks.

"Well … " Ahni smiles softly. "I think we have a larger baby here than your due date would suggest. Are you feeling better? Think you can walk again?" At Katara's twitchy nod Ahni pulls the water back into her pouch. "I've just seen more than Water Tribe tradition allows, but I'll only tell you this. The baby is big. The baby is healthy. And the baby is stretching its legs."

Three deep, slow breaths shudder out of the mouths of Zuko, Katara and Sokka.

"She's not in danger?" Zuko asks, the urgency still apparent in the strangled tremble in his voice.

"No." Ahni assures him. "But the due date may have to be revised."

"It might come sooner?" Katara asks, excited and also terrified at the prospect.

"It might." The healer smiles. "We'd better stick together, you and I. Just in case." She laughs taking Katara's arm and marches her carefully across the lane, past the crowd and into the second largest restaurant in Imiyo. The princess's thirty-six guards follow stoically and very, very closely in their wake.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Right away I'm suspicious." Laughs Chin as Suki hands him a bowl containing a light brownish, lumpy textured porridge.

"Try it." She smiles. "It's all the rage in the Earth Kingdom."

Chin pulls a spoonful of the glop toward his face and takes a sniff. "I'm supposed to eat it, right? It's food?"

Suki laughs. A lovely, husky sound and Chin raises an eyebrow at her.

"It's not going to hurt you." She claims. "It's oat porridge."

Chin sets the bowl down.

"I'm afraid you've mistaken me for an ostrich-horse." He quirks a smile, but has no intention of eating animal feed.

"It's not the kind of oats they use for … oh forget it!" She says, still grinning but sounding sincerely exasperated. "Let me." She kneels down in front of him and takes a heaping spoonful from the bowl. She consumes the stuff and looks right at him, savoring the sweetened taste of the lumpy goo.

Chin watches the spoon go in. And then out. His eyes focus like a wren-falcon's on her mouth as her tongue makes a sweep across her lips to get any remaining sticky bits.

_Sweet spirits._

"Now you." She refills the spoon and places it right at his mouth and he opens for her.

_Yuk._

"Isn't that great?" She seems genuine so he nods.

After swallowing thickly he opens his mouth to say something about how he's already eaten and he has a lot of work to do and wouldn't she like to share his tent.

_No, that's not right._

"It's very good for you." Suki says, her voice oddly soft.

"Well, actually I …"

Those are the last words he utters before the Fire Nation soldier comes running toward him.

"Commander! We've found something!" The young man yells frantically.

Chin is on his feet, the bowl of porridge and the pretty girl forgotten as he spots Bokkusu following stiffly along behind the soldier. The box man hasn't been that pale since he lost half his blood on the Unified Council's marble floor five years ago.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The cart rumbles over the uneven road. Farmer Fu pushes his ostrich-horse as hard as he dares, moving at a sharp clip through the mountain pass.

Yukio groans as a particularly dastardly rut causes the entire vehicle to jolt violently.

"Drink some more water." Lily places the canteen to his lips and he chokes back a couple of rough swallows.

He's hung over, feverish and angry. Mostly at himself for not buying a bow before they left the harbor. If he'd thought to do that they'd be enjoying platypus-bear steaks and stew. And his head wouldn't feel like a komodo-rhino had sat on it and his stomach wouldn't feel like butterfly-wasps had built a hive there.

He shoots a prayer to the spirits that he won't throw up. The very idea of forcing a heave past his throbbing, swollen jaw is enough to draw unmanly tears.

"He'll be alright in a few hours." The farmer declares, lying. "He just needs to sleep it off."

"Does everyone get a fever when they have a hangover?" Lily asks, mopping the prince's heated brow once more.

"Well, I've never heard of it, but that doesn't mean it isn't possible." Fu reluctantly admits.

"I thought the drink in the flask was supposed to stop the festering when you poured it on the wound." Lily grumbles.

"It helps. He might just have a fever." The old man grumbles right back. "I never promised he wouldn't get sick. I did what I could."

"I don't like this." She dunks the cloth in water again and resumes pressing it gently against Yukio's burning face. The stripes from the bear's paw that streak along the prince's cheek are an angry red, the dark stitching standing out like ink lines on the ridges.

Glazed amber eyes open slowly to meet hers. She forces a smile on her face wishing she knew more about fevers and festering and hangovers.

"We'll ask after a healer in the next town." She says confidently.

"It's a rough town. We'll move on to the next one for a healer." Farmer Fu shoots back. No little girl is going to tell him what to do.

"We'll go by the town then." She nods.

"I'll sell some moon peaches there and finance the rest of this trip. It'll only take a couple of hours." He glares at her.

Yukio grabs her hand tightly and she looks down to see that he's shaking his head slightly at her.

"I can wait." He says quietly.

"Fine." She grits out. "But if you die from this, you're on your own."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"And then I took the spear and picked the highest apple from the tree without my feet leaving the ground." Guru Patik beams, shrugging. "So she had to kiss me. I won the bet."

Ty Lee laughs trying to imagine the withered, old man as a randy teenager and failing. He's been telling her stories for a good forty-five minutes now. He has an endless supply of them and she wonders if they all actually happened to him.

"Your great great grandmother was not amused." He says quietly, a sparkle glinting in his eye.

"You knew my great great grandmother?" Ty Lee's eyes go wide. How old is this man?

"It was your great grandmother I was kissing." He chuckles.

"Great Granny Pin?" Ty Lee barely remembers the sweet old lady who died when she was only six-years-old.

"Pretty Pin." He smiles in memory. "She married a famous Fire Nation general. It might have created a scandal for such an important noble to marry an outsider, but they were devoted and your great grandfather loved her so. His family was able to keep it under wraps." He smirks.

"Great Granny Pin wasn't Fire Nation?" Ty Lee asks, confused. She's never heard that.

"No." He finishes his tea and wipes out his cup with a cloth.

"What was she?" Ty Lee asks urgently, her heart beating hard in her chest and a notion of the reason for the guru's visit taking hold in her brain.

The old man winks and the bodybender remembers how Aang always wants to throw the old geezer off the cliff.

"What was she?" She asks again more forcefully.

"Something else." He says concentrating on cleaning his utensils. "Full-blooded something else."

"An Air Nomad?" She whispers brokenly.

Patik leans forward and kisses her tenderly on the forehead.

"You've come full circle, my dear." He says gently, patting her shoulder.

"So I'm …"

"Your grandmother married into the Fire Nation. Pin was the last addition of the Air Nomad blood in your line. Your grandfather was full-blooded Fire Nation as well as your mother. But yes, you have a fraction."

"So if I have a child it will be more than half." She looks at him with wide, glistening eyes.

When he nods she instinctively places her hand on her belly, even though nothing grows there. Yet.

"Do you think they'll be benders?" She asks nervously. "Air benders?"

"With two such parents, spirit will not be a problem. I see no reason why they wouldn't be." He packs his little traveling tea set into his satchel and stands, groaning as his knees pop loudly. "But even if they aren't air benders, they will be extraordinary, I promise you that." He glows and she can tell he's imagining her children just as she is at this moment.

Ty Lee throws her arms around Patik's neck and he laughs delightedly.

"Just like Pin. Always hugging somebody." He says gleefully. "And now let me get to know your young charges before I take to my bed." He says taking her arm and walking around the perimeter of the temple.

"I can't wait to tell Aang." Ty Lee says happily.

"It won't make him love you more than he already does, you know." The guru warns.

"I know."

"Do you?" He quirks an eyebrow at her.

"Yes." She looks away, ashamed.

"It wouldn't be possible for him to love you more, Ty Lee. You're everything he's always wanted even when he didn't know." The old man says in a suddenly serious voice.

"I'll remember that." Ty Lee blushes. "I promise I won't doubt again."

"That's the spirit." He suddenly cackles at his pun, then laughs more as he sees the children shooting airballs at Aang who dodges and twists and deflects.

Of course he would create a training exercise that doubles as a game.

And of course he would have to play.

Ty Lee leaps joyfully forward to join Aang's team and flips around air balls as they immediately start flying at her as well.

"No," the guru whispers to himself, "spirit won't be a problem at all."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Suki's tired of waiting. She wants to know what's happened. What did they find?

She saunters right up to the cluster of men standing in the middle of the mountain road and joins their group. To her astonishment they make a space for her.

What Bokkusu holds in his fist is a garment. A dark, tattered tunic that has definitely seen better days. The bottom hem is pulled out in various spots, holes punched through the cloth. The neck of the garment is stiff with dried blood. A lot of it. She can smell it.

"Should we send a message to the Fire Lord?" A lieutenant asks.

"No. We don't know anything definitive yet." Bokkusu growls, his emotions getting the better of him. "Search the surrounding area." He orders, handing the tunic to Chin and stomping into the woods.

"Is it Prince Yukio's?" Suki asks quietly.

Chin turns to her and his usually bright, golden eyes are dull with worry. He nods.

"It's his." He confirms. If the tears at the hem where the gold pieces were likely removed weren't enough to indicate ownership there's another way to identify the prince's garments. Yukio's clothes have a maroon 'x' stitched onto the underside. Taoki and Kenya have a gold or a gray 'x' stitched in theirs. Yukio is a bit larger than the twins, but they are close enough in size that their clothes kept getting mixed up in the vast palace laundry, so the head seamstress at the palace began the system of the differing colors of thread.

"You're sure it's his blood?" Suki asks, not wanting to step on toes, but wanting to make sure they've thought of everything.

Chin actually hands her the tunic and, stunned, she accepts it. A quick perusal tells her the wearer of the tunic was the injured person. That much blood doesn't soak into the neck of a shirt without it coming from the person inside it. It's possible he wasn't the one wearing it at the time, but not probable. They're best bet is to go on the assumption it's the blood of the prince.

"I'll help with the search." She hands the tunic back and strides into the woods. She's gone on enough hunting trips with Sokka that she's got a very good sense of tracking now. If there's something to be found, she intends to help find it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

It's night. The full moon lights the ocean and the miniscule island he can just make out in the distance.

Two people stand at the edge of the island on a tiny, rocky shore.

The image rushes to him as if he's flown toward it at light speed and he sees her face.

Katara.

Her azure eyes are so sad. The boy next to her with the shoulder length, dark hair looks away. He shrinks down to the size of a baby and suddenly he_ is _an infant. And then he's a boy again. Then a young teenager. Then a young man. And then a man full grown.

Zuko notices that for each age of the man, Katara seems to fade and he steps toward her. As he does the other man starts to move.

The stranger's hair, now hanging down to the small of his back, blows in the breeze and he looks over at Zuko with recognition.

"I'm sorry." Katara says and her husbands gaze snaps back to her disappearing form.

"Wait!" Zuko leaps toward her and reaches out but she's not flesh. She's a part of the fog rolling in to the island.

As the last vestiges of her image sparkle and disappear he turns on the man.

"Bring her back!" He rails. "I want her back!"

The man looks at him sorrowfully.

"You must choose." His deep voice tells him. "If she stays I must go."

"I don't even know you!" Zuko cries out at the stranger. "I want Katara back!! Now!" He shoots fire toward the man but the fading is already taking place.

At the last moment – just before the man disappears into dust – Zuko sees the crown in the stranger's topknot.

And it's then that he knows he's met his son.

He wakes up with a roar of anguish.


	28. Bridges

**Bridges**

"So ya had your first screamer last night?" Sokka asks Zuko as they walk along side the palanquin bearing Katara, Ahni and Tatia. It's about a mile to the site of the installation ceremony, which they will perform right on the dividing line between the twins' new territories.

"Katara told you?" The Fire Lord hadn't gotten back to sleep after his dream. His face is pale and his eyes have deep shadows beneath them.

Not projecting an image of formidable strength at all.

"She said you wouldn't tell her what it was, but I'm guessing that's because something horrible happened to _her._ So you can tell _me_." Sokka says proudly, slowing down so the palanquin moves ahead of them and his sister won't be able to hear the conversation.

"I'd rather not." Zuko says quietly.

"Okay, let me guess then. She died in childbirth." Sokka ventures the most common plot line of the impending fatherhood terror dream.

"I don't know."

"Hmmm. Symbolic dream then, eh? Okay, a giant lizard-monkey plucks an ear of corn from a rooftop and throws it like a fire bomb at a cowering angler fish."

"What?" Zuko looks at him blankly.

"Yeah, I still don't get that one." Sokka shudders at the memory. "Okay, you do something to the baby. Lose it. Step on it. Feed it a spider."

Zuko looks at the ground.

"Not exactly." He thinks for a moment and then sighs heavily. He explains the dream to Sokka in sharp detail. Every second has stayed at the front of his mind since the moment he awoke screaming. It's actually nice to get it off his chest.

"Classic fear of bonding dream." Sokka nods knowledgeably. "Typical in new fathers."

"I don't think that was it." Zuko shakes his head.

"You don't really think you were seeing the future in your dream do you?" Sokka asks incredulously.

When Zuko doesn't answer Sokka laughs. But Zuko's upset is real and he pulls back on his mirth quickly.

"Have you ever had a premonition dream before?" He decides to back his brother-in-law into a corner via science so he understands it's just a dream.

"Well, I did dream once I was the Fire Lord…" Zuko begins.

"Gotta tell ya, brother, the crown prince of the Fire Nation dreaming he's the Fire Lord is _not_ prophesy."

"I wasn't the crown prince at the time." Zuko counters grumpily, "I was a fugitive working in a tea house in Ba Sing Se."

"Still, you felt like the crown prince inside so having a …"

"No, Sokka. I didn't feel like the crown prince inside. I felt like _shit_ inside. And why do you think I felt that way? Because my own father rejected me, that's why. Just like I did to my own son in my dream." He spells it out because Sokka's never been rejected by someone that important to him. He couldn't possibly understand.

"Fear of bonding dream." Sokka says under his breath because he can't help himself once he knows he's reached an accurate diagnosis.

"I made a choice." Zuko says angrily. "And I think …" he looks away into the forest. "I'm afraid I'd make it again."

"Like if you were in the position to choose between your own child and your wife you'd choose Katara. Even after the baby's born?"

"Yes."

"Not gonna happen. First of all, I can't see the circumstances that would make that scenario take place, but regardless, once the baby's in the world you won't let anything bad happen to it. It's a father's instinct." He declares with the voice of experience.

"Is it?" Zuko looks over at him shrewdly and Sokka realizes his brother-in-law is looking at him through his formerly scarred left eye. The skin is smooth and perfect now, and it's easy to forget that, five years ago Zuko's face was horribly scarred by the hand of the man who should have protected him against everything.

"I get the point." Sokka mutters. "But I know what I'm talking about here. You're not Ozai. You never were."

Zuko continues walking, gazing broodingly at the ground. Sokka, annoyed, finally grabs his arm and their eyes meet.

"I've seen you with Yukio since he was eleven. And Taoki and Kenya. You may not believe you have enough love but you do. So get over it. It was just a dream. And you know what? You're going to have another bad dream tonight and tomorrow night. You know why? _ Because_ of all that stupid love." Sokka tightens his grip on the Fire Lord's arm when he tries to pull away. "Don't tell me I don't understand. I have five children and a wife and my only wish is that I had six lives to give for each and every one of them if necessary. And you are just like me. Unfunny and boring most of the time, but at least in this department, we're the same."

Zuko glares at him with flashing, angry eyes. Very rarely is he confronted by another person. Never do they lay hands on him and remain standing. Certainly not in front of the entire royal entourage.

"Do I need to have you arrested?" He asks quietly.

"Only if I have to tell you this again. Because you'll be on your backside if I do." Sokka matches Zuko's deadly tone.

It's a tense face-off that lasts longer than the guard is comfortable with. As they move in to take the Water Tribe captain down, Zuko raises his hand to halt them.

He turns and begins walking again, the entire line of people moving on his footsteps. He looks straight ahead as Sokka joins him.

"I'm not unfunny and boring." Zuko mutters.

"No comment." Sokka mutters back and the two men continue trudging along in silence.

XXXXXXXXX

Assembled at the ridge where the bloody tunic was found, the grouping of officers and security men go over what they've learned in their overnight search. Suki sits between Chin and Bokussu in a position of honor she wasn't expecting. She found the divot where the bear slid over the cliff and that allowed them to track the rest of the event back into the clearing where they found copious amounts of blood in one spot. Broken branches and ruined patches of grass told of a violent confrontation in the woods, the outcome of which is completely uncertain.

"The wagon tracks are fairly fresh. We should get going." Bokkusu says impatiently.

"But there still may be some information we can dig up here." Chin counters. "There might even be a body." He chokes a bit on the last word but he forces it out.

"Pick a team to leave behind. I'm taking my people and moving on." Bokkusu announces.

"And leaving a bunch of crewmen with no security leadership? Nice." Chin grouches.

"My gut tells me to move on." The box man narrows his eyes at his friend.

"I'll stay." Suki pipes up. "I've got a lot of tracking experience. I can lead a search."

"Great idea." Bokkusu claps her on the shoulder, moving her ahead about three feet. "Chin, you stay with her. Keep as many searchers as you want and the rest can come with me."

Chin glares at his friend. Suki glares at him as well. If she hadn't seen the security man treat so many others the same way, his assault on her shoulder would bring about a frenzied payback his underlings would have nightmares about for years to come.

Loath to complain about being treated like one of the guys, though, Suki just nods.

"One problem." Chin says dryly. "We are authorized to have _one_ Fire Nation unit moving about the Earth Kingdom. You're going to make it two."

Bokkusu curses creatively under his breath.

"Give the documents to Bokkusu and I'll be your authorization here." Suki offers.

The box man raises his hand to go at her shoulder again and she ducks fluidly around him to the other side of the circle. Their eyes meet and they both grin.

"Fine." Chin grumbles feeling suddenly, and very inexplicably, angry with both of them.

"Pick your group and I'll take the rest." Bokkusu says buoyantly to his friend. "I want to start out in the next half hour though, so be quick about it."

"Bokkusu … " Chin's voice is low with warning. "You're getting annoying."

The box man merely smiles. Despite the seriousness of the situation he's happy to be taking some action. And he's very happy to leave Chin with the Kyoshi warrior. As much as he hates it when people try to match him with women, he's not above doing it with his own friends.

And concerning himself with Chin's love life certainly does a good job of keeping his mind off his own.

XXXXXXXXXX

"I wish we were walking with the Fire Lord and Sokka." Taoki says as he rides an ostrich-horse alongside his brother. The two of them do know how to ride, but they're not comfortable.

It was decided that the two new barons would lead the party to the location of the ceremony. Riding provides them with stature. At least it does unless one of them falls off.

"Relax." Kenya says. "We'll be there soon."

"And then it's really for real." Taoki says soberly.

"Did you recognize anyone back in Imiyo?" Kenya asks hesitantly.

"Yeah. A few." He responds.

"I hate them."

"So do I."

"We're supposed to be good barons to them, though." Kenya muses.

"It'll be hard not to spit in some of their faces."

"Yeah."

"But we represent the Fire Lord so we have to be perfect all the time." There's a note of bitterness in Taoki's voice.

"Yeah."

Neither one of them is typically vindictive. Even as companions to Prince Yukio they've taken their share of obnoxious comments. But these people are part of a horrible history. People who might not have known the young boys could communicate or understand language, but who certainly knew they were being abused. Their grandfather didn't do much to hide that aspect of their relationship and not a single acquaintance stepped in on their behalf.

The Fire Lord's decision to travel with the princess to their installation ceremony marks them as his voice in the province. If they repay in kind those who disdained them and left them to their brutal fate so long ago they dishonor not only themselves but the monarch as well.

"I don't think it's in me to do anything to anyone anyway." Taoki says on a ragged sigh.

"I wish we didn't have to do this." Kenya responds.

"Same here."

"At least this gives you the position to ask for Lin's hand."

"It'll be hard. Her father won't approve, even if I _am_ nobility." Taoki adjusts his seat on the animal but finds no comfort.

"You're higher than he is." Kenya points out. "You have the personal approval of the Fire Lord. Cho Sung can't say a word."

"What if she doesn't want to leave her family?"

"With those brothers of hers? If she doesn't want to leave them for you she's not worth having." Kenya snorts.

Taoki is silent for a moment.

"Never say anything like that about her again." He says, his voice a deadly whisper.

Kenya looks up, surprised.

"Don't threaten me, Taoki." He bites back. "If she denies you she's my enemy and there's nothing you can do to keep me from feeling that way. Retribution is yours but I don't have to forgive her and I wouldn't."

They ramble along for a bit, the tension subsiding at a snail's pace.

"Besides," Kenya finally breaks the silence, "there's no way in this world it's not going to happen. I'd bet my life on it."

Now it's Taoki's turn to snort. Kenya's bluster is always comforting. He'd surprised himself by getting so angry at what he perceived to be an insult to Lin. But Kenya's words had also caught him off guard. It had never occurred to him the three of them might not be one happy family. Kenya's habit of worrying over and protecting Taoki could get in the way in the coming months.

Taoki looks over at his double and sees him narrowing his eyes, focusing on something in the distance. Knowing whatever it is won't be visible to everyone else for another hundred yards or so, Taoki looks ahead with no small amount of anxiety uncurling in his stomach.

They're close now. Almost land-holding nobility. Responsible for the care and livelihoods of all the people who let them down for so many years.

The area of the ceremony crawls into view. A dais has been constructed that rises above the river with columns that soar high into the trees with banners and streamers waving and fluttering all around.

The tiny village beside the river is part of Kenya's domain and it appears to be no more than a collection of about ten tiny structures doubling as businesses and domiciles.

"This is it." Taoki breathes.

"I'll only be a mile or two away." Kenya shares his own worry. He and Taoki have never been separated for more than a day. For the first time ever they'll be setting up their own, individual households.

Even as insignificant as the physical distance between them will be, once Lin joins Taoki, Kenya will be alone.

And that's something he's very afraid of getting used to.

XXXXXXXXXX

"You idiots!" Cho Sung rails at his sons.

Bai and Dozo look at the thick, luxurious rug beneath their hands as they prostrate themselves before the fury of their father.

"How could you not know the White Spirits were more than just hangers-on?"

No answer comes from the lumps on the carpet. The baron hadn't expected one and they know it. He walks over and kicks Bai in the side causing the boy to expel air in a loud _oomph_.

"They are the grandsons of Baron Konjin." Cho Sung hisses. "They have inherited more land than I can possibly imagine. Combine that with the Fire Lord's obvious affection for them and I have no choice but to allow that … thing … to marry Lin if he asks."

"No!" Dozo looks up. "You can't! The Fire Lord wouldn't force you to …" Another _oomph_ sounds as he too is struck in the side.

"Shut up! I have no intention of allowing her to mate with that freak. Can you imagine what their children will be? Even if I disown her, their … offspring … would still be part Cho Sung. Spirits know what they could create between the two of them." He spits in disgust and returns to his cushions by the giant windows where the dappled sun warms the room.

"What can we do?" Bai chokes out angrily, not daring to lift his head.

"What you should have done before!" The baron roars, stalking back around the room again, too agitated to sit on his luxurious throne. "Find out everything you can about them. And find out if he's contacted Lin another time. Maybe the distance will save us."

"Yes father." Bai says quietly.

"He hasn't sent any messages since she played at the last palace gathering." Dozo ventures weakly, most of his strength going toward keeping himself from rubbing his side. "I'll question the maid again."

"Draw blood if you have to." Cho Sung orders through clenched teeth and stomps from the room.

After at least a minute of remaining prostrate, Bai rises from his position.

"You know, Dozo, if we're going to get punished every time something happens between Lin and the freak that's beyond our control, we're going to end up dead."

"Yeah." Dozo says, finally rising and rubbing his side where he's certain he's sporting at least a couple of bruised ribs.

"But all the trouble goes away if he's dead."

"What? We can't kill father!" Dozo gasps.

"Of course not, idiot. The freak."

"Oh. Yeah. He can't really court Lin if he's ashes, can he?"

"Maybe we should think about that." Bai suggests.

"Definitely." Dozo agrees and starts painfully climbing to his feet.

XXXXXXXXXX

Lily collapses beside Yukio in the back of the cart and shoots Farmer Fu a glare.

"Thanks for all the help." She grouches at the back of the old man's head as the cart begins a steady rumble along the pitted road.

"Well you _can_ thank me, miss. I might have been able to give you a hand with those thugs if your boyfriend here hadn't been trying to crawl out of the wagon to join the fight." Fu explains curtly.

"You what?!" Lily raises up on an elbow and looks down at Yukio.

Yukio couldn't look less ready to fight. His skin is the color of a fish belly and his wound is the color of fire cherries with the exception of the awful, light yellow liquid oozing from the stitched gashes.

"How many?" His eyelids only open a slit as he looks at her dazedly, his eyes bright with fever.

"There were only three. It was mostly easy." She picks up the damp cloth that has fallen beside his head and dabs at his burning cheeks, neck and forehead.

"I wish I could have …"

"Don't you dare put yourself in more danger. If I need someone's help then I'll get it, but don't you … " She stops, overwhelmed suddenly with worry as his eyes close again and he drifts off into another fitful sleep.

"Please hurry." She nearly whimpers to the farmer.

"No more stops until we get to a healer." The farmer promises, his big, gnarled hand patting her shoulder awkwardly. "I promise."

Allowing the tears to flow now that Yukio can't see them, Lily nods, accepting the comfort of the promise and gently wipes the prince's brow again.

As Farmer Fu turns his attention toward urging his stubborn ostrich horse to a trot Lily lays down beside her patient and allows herself a moment of much needed rest.

"Don't die, Yukio." She whispers to his unhearing ear as she smoothes his hair back and away from his face. "I love you. Please don't die."


End file.
